Time Times Three - X Over Blake's 7, Doctor Who, ST TNG
by StormcloudK
Summary: A crossover fiction, between three very different fandoms. In the Star Trek the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet are mostly seen as being the good people. In Blake's 7, the Federation is run by power hungry, ruthless people. In the Doctor's universe, the Time Lord spends much of his time, defending the little people, saving the day. What will happen when they meet?
1. Chapter 1

Time Times Three

A crossover fiction, between three very different fandoms. In the Star Trek universe the United Federation of Planets are mostly seen from the point of view of being the good people, with careful Prime Directives to preserve native civilisations they encounter. In the universe of Blake's 7, the Federation is run by power hungry, ruthless people such as Servalan, cold-blooded politicians whose only interest is to serve themselves and a military certainly in bed with the moguls. In the Doctor's universe, the Time Lord spends much of his time, defending the little people, saving the day, and averting all sorts of disasters from all sorts of aliens and circumstances. What will happen when they meet – and why did they meet at all?

Chapter 1

"Careful of where you are putting your feet Geordi, the crash landing rendered this particular area of the building inherently unsafe," Lt Commander Data said picking his way carefully through the rubble strewn floor of what looked to have been a warehouse of some sort, long since abandoned.

"Relax Data, I'm being super careful," Geordi replied, from the other side of the hallway, using his visor to scan the area around him. "I'm detecting a couple of faint heat sources 150 metres south, south west of my current position. One much fainter than the other - could be a body."

Data obligingly swung his tricorder to the right of him, triangulating his search from Geordi's given position. "I am picking up faint life signs," he agreed.

"Life signs? Are you sure?" Commander Riker, the third member of the away team asked. He had entered the building from the rear, after a falling timber blocked the entrance Data and Geordi used.

"Yes Commander, I am sure," Data confirmed.

"I'm definitely seeing something too," Geordi added. "Although from the steep trajectory of the life pod as it entered the atmosphere I would have thought it was impossible."

Unseen Commander William Riker nodded. He had privately thought this mission a waste of time after seeing the escape pod glow white hot to the point where the nose cone seemed to melt as it knifed through the atmosphere.

"I wonder where they came from?" Geordi mused, still walking forward.

Before Riker or Data could reply, a shudder raced through the building. The away team instinctively ducking at the sound of creaking timbers and cracking concrete, a heavy scatter of debris and other rubble rained down, filling the air with thick particles of dust.

"I suggest we leave speculation until we're back on board," Riker suggested, hastily backing away from a hole, which had appeared near his feet. "This whole building could collapse at any moment."

Resuming his search, Data strong-armed a beam, which had fallen directly in front of him and ducked beneath another. Metres away from the Lt Commander, Geordi climbed a newly formed pile of rubble that offered no real foothold, using his hands to stabilise his decent.

"I see it. I can see the escape pod," Geordi cried a moment later, sliding down a pile of bricks surrounding the vehicle. "Most of the aft section appears to be completely buried by the building. From what I can see of it, I don't recognise the design. It appears triangular and… wow, it's still warm to the touch. No sign of radiation or particle emissions. As you would expect there's lots of damage, much of the building has collapsed on it. I can't do much from here; I'll need to make my way round to the other side."

"Can you see the occupant?" Riker demanded. "I can't get through to you from this side; I'm going to try another avenue. Another shower of stones, dust, and rubble greeted his statement. "We can't stay here much longer."

"No I'm afraid not Commander, as I said the damage is too extensive."

Data pushed through another crawl space, and caught sight of the silver pod for the first time. "Geordi, from my current position I can see you and one of the occupants," he stated. "There is no movement, but there is faint life signs. I cannot get to you just yet however, my way is blocked by a steel girder of some sort, I am attempting to force my way through."

"Careful Data," Geordi commented, climbing and slipping round to the other side of the escape pod. "I can see him too. Hang on."

Reaching the prone victim Geordi searched for a pulse. "He's male, Human or humanoid. Alive, but unconscious, breathing rapid but shallow, one of his legs and one arm are at a funny angle, definitely broken," he said surveying the slim dark haired man in front of him, half in half out of the escape pod. It looked as if the occupant had pushed the escape hatch open, and then collapsed. "No uniform or any insignia."

"Is there anyone else?" Riker suggested, still trying to find a way through the rubble.

"Not that I can see Commander. "It's definitely an escape pod, designed for a single occupant, the only other thing I can inside see is a metal storage box. A couple of feet long, a fraction less wide, and half that high, with a carrying handle."

The building creaked again, causing more rubble and dust to fall just as Data reached the crashed craft. "We do not have long," he warned, sweeping his tricorder over the unconscious victim. "The survivor looks to have a few internal injuries too; we need leave as soon as possible."

Activating his combadge Riker spoke to the Enterprise. "Riker to bridge. We have found one occupant of the escape pod. Male, unconscious but alive, in need of urgent medical attention; the only thing he has with him is a metal box."

"Any indication where he came from?" Picard queried, answering the call. "We have scanned the area, but other than the temporal anomaly we detected earlier there are no signs of any space craft."

"No Captain. He's not in any kind of uniform and there is no insignia." Geordi added.

Lifting the storage box out of the way by its handle, Data peered into the cockpit. "Limited controls, simple vector and speed indicators. Friction breaks, a homing signal beacon, which is no longer active. No indication of..."

The warehouse gave an ominous rumble, metal groaning loudly.

"Finish your report on-board Lt Commander." Picard advised. "Transporter room stand by. Sick bay, Dr Crusher your services will be needed."

"Riker to Enterprise four to beam up."

"Acknowledged Commander."

Bending down beside the survivor Geordi felt the tingle of the transport beam take him, just as a deafening cracking sound came from above, as what was left of the warehouse ceiling started to tumble down around them. Ducking to protect the survivor, Geordi drew a breath, coughing as the transporter beam released him back on the ship. "Boy, that was close," he said straightening.

Data stepped down from the transporter pad carrying the storage box, just as the transporter doors whooshed open to admit Beverly Crusher and an orderly with a gurney. "The Captain said I had a patient?"

"Yes, over here doctor," Geordi confirmed, "Commander I had a thought about pinpointing the origin of the escape bod by reversing the trajectory, what do you think?" he asked turning to Riker, however, the First Officer was not standing beside him, as he should have been. "Where's Commander Riker?"

All activity in the transporter room stopped for a split second.

"Has anyone seen Commander Riker since we beamed aboard?" Data asked, taking command immediately.

"You know I haven't," Geordi acknowledged.

"Neither have I," Data confirmed, crossing the room quickly. Putting the case he'd been carrying down, he addressed the transporter operator. "Lieutenant, please confirm that you transported four individuals aboard."

"I had a lock on you all," the duty officer said quickly checking through the settings on his console.

"That is not what I asked."

Geordi joined Data at the transporter console, the man they'd rescued forgotten as he walked across the room. "Is the Commander in the pattern buffer?"

"I can try again sir," the duty officer said activating the controls once more.

Nothing happened.

"Power fluctuations?"

"No sir, green lights across the board."

"There were no energy readings from the life capsule, I checked myself before I approached," Geordi told Data.

Data nodded briskly and tapped his combadge. "Data to bridge. Commander Riker has not beamed aboard with the rest of the party, are you able to raise him from the bridge?"

Struck on the head by a glancing blow, the First Officer had acted on pure instinct, diving through the broken window to his left as the building completely collapsed above him, dust, debris and glass raining over a wide area as the warehouse fell with a concussive boom.

Riker half rolled, have stumbled to a stop behind a stack of disused cates, and various flora, his ears ringing from the force of the blow to his head, feeling dizzy and disorientated with a monumental headache. Moments later an arrow landed close to his right foot, burying itself in the dirt. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, shaking his head to clear his vision as he reached for his combadge. "Riker to Enterprise," he said in a fierce whisper. "I'm not sure what happened, but I could really do with that teleport right now."

There was no reply, just a dead-toned chirp of the combadge.

Undaunted Riker tried again as he reached across his right hip for his phaser, which wasn't there, his fingers brushing up against an empty holster. "Riker to Enterprise, come in Enterprise," the Commander tried again, fighting the urge to do more than just stare incredulously as a second arrow missed his nose by a few centimetres and a third hit his makeshift hideout with a thud. "If you can hear this, I'm under fire, lost my weapon and I'm pinned down some 300 metres behind the building the life capsule demolished. I need immediate beam out."

Another arrow dug into the dirt by Riker's right foot, followed by a rock.

There came a war cry from somewhere just beyond the ruined warehouse as several figures emerged dressed in some kind of leather and metal armour, bows already nocked with arrows, spears being held high as they charged his position.

An arrow launched in their direction from behind Riker, followed in quick succession by two more, both hitting and dropping their targets with dull thuds and flurry of dust.

"Quickly now, follow me if you want to live," a female voice said from just behind his right ear as a slight dark skinned young woman with short hair, impossibly wearing a white toga suggested popping up beside him.

Riker drew a breath, "Not that I'm not grateful or anything, and I am, but who are you and where on earth did you come from?" he asked turning towards her.

The young woman regarded him with lively curiosity. "You've hit your head, probably have concussion," she announced. "There'll be time enough for questions later. Come now." With that, she ducked round a pile of crates and rubble and started running directly towards another derelict building a couple of hundred metres away.

A further rock and now a spear embedding itself in the makeshift barrier behind which Riker was hiding decided the First Officer. Head pounding Riker had no choice but to scramble to his feet and run after his would-be rescuer. He'd been unable to reach the Enterprise and while he knew it was likely that the Captain would send down a search party to rescue him; he just needed to stay alive until then.

The young woman was as fast as a hare, already running lightly through the building she'd just entered, and out the other side into a courtyard area, paved with flagstones and overgrown vegetation. Riker's boots slapped hard on the ground, echoing round them as he followed her.

"You make too much noise! Quickly now," the young woman urged, making straight for the far corner of the enclosed space. She knelt down to lift, what at first glance, appeared to be a manhole cover, but was actually an airlock hatch.

Panting Riker skidded to a stop. "The sewers?" he questioned.

The sound of many running footsteps and furious war cries, just behind him answered his question, and gave him little choice but to follow directions. Climbing quickly into the hole at his feet, Riker was surprised to find well-used stone steps leading down.

"Hurry, and watch your head and footing, you're too tall and the floor is slippery in places, it gets quite damp after the rains."

"Has it rained recently?"

"Yes, about five days ago, what is it about you that you don't understand the word hurry; they're almost upon us now!"

Moving cautiously down a few steps, spurred by the urgency in the young woman's voice, Riker turned just in time to see her step in behind him and pull the hatch closed behind her. She activated some kind of locking mechanism with a twist of something followed by an electronic bleep. Walking down a few steps around and in front of the Commander, she turned to scrutinise him further.

"Well, are you coming or not? Or do you intend to stand there all day?"

Hesitating Riker looked back at the hatch. "Won't they try to follow us?" he asked concerned, neither the lock nor the hatch had looked particularly thick or strong.

"Oh yes, they'll try, most probably anyway. But they've never managed to breakthrough a deadlock seal as yet; I don't see why today should be any different."

Feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him, Riker stayed where he was, until the young woman reached up to lay a light hand on his arm. "Come on, this way," she said her tone more gentle than before.

With a sigh and slight nod, Riker agreed; following her down several more carved stone steps wondering what kind of rabbit hole he'd fallen into.

A few metres later the steps and hole in the ground opened out into a stone clad vault. The walls appeared damp in places, but everything was neat and tidy. There were a couple of chairs, a cot, a wooden table, couple of shelves and a console full of electrical equipment, and not a speck of dust anywhere.

Walking across the room the young woman activated one of the consoles and stared critically at the monitor. There had to be a hidden camera somewhere Riker realised, as he saw the image of the entrance they'd just passed through surrounded on all sides by four burly men, trying to use rocks and their spears to smash their way into the vault.

Grinning to herself, the young woman flipped a switch and a jolt of pure blue energy sent those closest to the hatchway flying backwards, one hit his head and lay still. The young woman nodded in apparent satisfaction. "Good, that will hold them," she said turning towards Riker. "Hungry? Running around a bit is quite exhilarating don't you find, but I'm always famished afterwards," she said conversationally.

Still assessing his new situation, and wondering if the girl were a threat to him as well, Riker shook his head. "I'm good thanks."

"Suit yourself," the woman replied with a shrug walking towards a bowl of fruit on one of the shelves Riker had just noticed. She picked up something resembling an orange pear and bit into it enthusiastically. Pink juice dribbled down her chin. "Perhaps something to drink instead? I'm a poor host not to offer you something. I'm Dayna by the way."

"Danya," Riker repeated, still standing nearly in the middle of the room watching her wearily.

"Yes that's right, and you are?"

"Riker, Will Riker."

"Well Riker, Will Riker, why don't you take yourself a seat before you fall? Head injuries usually bleed a lot, but look generally worse than they are. Here drink this and let me take a look."

"There's no need," Riker suggested, taking the metal cup of water he was offered and sitting down in a chair anyway. He watched as Danya took another bite of her fruit before setting it aside. Opening a cupboard door in front of her Danya reached inside for a cloth, which she splashed some water and approached him. "Your people are hunting you?" Riker asked.

Dayna laughed, then made a scoffing noise, reaching out to dab the cloth against Riker's head. "My people? Don't be silly! Do I even look like them?" she asked. "They're Sorrens."

"Sorrens?" Riker said wincing as the cloth touched his head. He pulled away slightly, but Dayna followed, dabbing at the wound once more.

"Yes, the natives of this planet. I'm from Earth by the way. I live here with my father. He brought me here when I was just a baby. Hold still."

Mentally gritting his teeth Riker did as he was told. "There's just the two of you?" he asked looking around him again.

"Yes, and Iesha, she's a native of this planet, but had live with us since she was just a baby."

"So there are three of you?"

"Yes. I don't think the wound is too bad; you probably have a large headache though. Hold this against it for a little while until the bleeding stops," Dayna said producing a dry cloth, holding it against Riker's head, and then putting his right hand up in an effort to get him to do as she'd directed.

Riker took the cloth, looked at the fresh blood now on it, refolded it into a tighter pad than did as he'd been told, resting his aching head partially against his hand. "So the three of you?" he tried.

"Yes, just we three. You are curious aren't you?"

"It's not every day you get hit on the head, have a building nearly fall on top of you and get chased by a group of men with bows and arrows," Riker responded.

Dayna laughed at him. "You're not from round here then. It's just another boring day for me – until you and the other escape pods arrived."

"Others?" Riker was on his feet immediately.

"Relax," Dayna moved back towards him, holding out his mug of water. "I didn't get to them in time, they didn't make it. I'm sorry. Were they close friends of yours?"

Riker shook his head. "No." he answered truthfully. The temporal anomaly, which had first caught the Enterprise's attention, had not shown the presence of any large vessels. They had come within 150 km and held steady, watching the fascinating light display while Data, Geordi and the whole science division had collected as much data and information as possible. They science division had been gathering information and making their observations for around twenty minutes when they had seen a single escape pod streak past them, spinning wildly and attempt to make a crash landing on the planet he was now on. "There's been some kind of space battle?" he tried, looking for information.

Dayna shrugged. "They may well have been. But not from here. The natives are not technologically advanced enough; you saw how they reacted to a simple electrical charge."

Riker gestured around him. "There must be others on… Sarren, did you call this planet?"

"Sorren," Dayna corrected immediately. "Yes I suppose there must," she agreed, showing little interest.

"The people who build this?" Riker pressed.

"Our hidey hole?" Danya laughed. "No, this place has been here forever, there are dozens just like it scattered about. Iesha and I used to play in them as kids."

"You don't live here?"

"Here, no, of course not, it's rather primitive, and as I've said before prone to being damp, not much use for storage. But useful to watch the natives."

On screen, the Sorrens had once again regrouped and were bashing at the lock. Danya sent Riker a mischievous grin and activated the electricity field once more. "There, that should be enough to dissuade them, give them half an hour or so and they'll creep away like they usually do. We'll be able to leave safely then."

Riker instinctively touched his combadge.

Dayna looked at him thoughtfully. "Your communication device won't work down here, even if the dust didn't short its components. These rocks contain a natural em-dampening field. Useful as it increases the strength of the mag lock at the entrance tenfold, but rubbish at communicating through. Another half hour and we should be clear, you can try again once we reach the surface, or you can come home with me."

Night was falling fast as Vila stumbled through the trees. Earlier on, he had tried to follow one of the planets two suns in the hope of finding someone, but both were quickly setting now, dipping in and out of sight beyond the level of the forest canopy, creating long shadows and dark places. Vila's wandering was becoming quickly aimless. He was tired, thirsty and in a fair amount of pain, all down his left side. Hugging his left arm tightly to his chest, his wrist was at a bit of an odd angle, Vila sighed as the recess he'd been walking in widened out into a kind of basin, muddy, rock filled grassy banks surrounding him on almost every side.

With a sigh, and a decided lack of enthusiasm Vila picked what he thought looked to be the easiest bank to climb and made his way up slowly, choosing his footholds with care. His head peaking over the ridge, Vila suddenly brightened, feeling better almost instantly. A way off in the distance the horizon was much brighter than before, and as he looked, he could swear he could see a hover car taking off from the roof of a building. Civilisation, finally, all he needed to do now was get there.

Both suns had more or less set, by the time Vila had made it to the outskirts of the small town. Dark shadows all around him, Vila ran across several fields to reach his goal. There was reassurance in the nondescript building, starting to dot the landscape around him. Buildings meant people. People meant rescue, if he were clever. Most people were easy to read, especially for a talented thief. Moreover, where there were people there were usually bars or taverns, certainly many opportunities to score some money and have a little fun, and get his wrist sorted too.

Slipping silently between the spaces between two buildings Vila surreptitiously touched the teleport bracelet around his wrist, hidden away beneath his jacket. He had tried half a dozen times to reach the Liberator but had received no reply. He told himself he wasn't that worried, yet. Zen had said the damage to the ship had been extensive and would need 72 hours to repair the damage to his hull and systems. The oxygen had been running thin, Zen counting down to zero before the life support was shut down – just about the same time Vila had jettisoned his life pod.

72 hours. He'd spent most of the day wondering round lost in the woods, so say 60 hours left. 60 hours to have a little fun and get some R & R. With neither Blake nor Avon any the wiser. The thought cheered Vila up as he skirted round a couple of rubbish bins, slipping further into the town.

Maybe he could find a casino if he were lucky.

Rounding another corner Vila ducked into another alleyway. Windows were starting to appear on the sides of the buildings now. Most were unlit, but there was a warm and inviting glow coming from behind the blue door of one of them, set inside a small porch. Vila didn't find it odd that there were no other porches sticking out from the sides of the buildings down the dimly lit alleys. The light from the porch was warm and inviting.

Reaching the door, Vila tried the handle, to his surprise it opened at his touch.

Vila went in.

"So what do you think then?" Donna asked twirling herself around in front of the Doctor.

"Very nice," the Doctor agreed, not looking up from the gizmo he was adjusting with various bits and pieces and his sonic screwdriver.

Donna stopped hands on hips. "Doctor!"

"Yes, as I said, very nice."

Scowling, Donna moved to stand behind the Time Lord and put her hands over his eyes.

"Oi!" he complained.

"What colour is it?" Donna said patiently, amusement evident in her tone.

Caught up in putting together his clever little thingummy, the Doctor was completely baffled. "What colour is what?" he asked.

"My dress, you idiot!"

"Yes."

"I said it was nice." The Doctor squirmed slightly.

"You did, so, what was the colour of it?"

"Donna," the Doctor complained.

"Doctor" Donna replied mimicking the Doctors tone.

Recognising the fact that Donna wasn't going to give in, the Time Lord sighed. "All right, it's a very nice blue dress," he tried. Many of Donna's outfits were in fact blue, one of her favourite colours; it was a safe bet that she was wearing that colour now.

"Ha!"

Damn it. Not the colour she was wearing this time. "It's yellow," the Doctor offered. "A lovely colour yellow, sunny, bright, vibrant the colour of… ow! What was that for?" he complained as Donna flicked a finger against the side of his head.

"That was not an 'ow'," Donna said laughing, moving to kick the Doctor not too hard on one shin.

"Ow! Again! What was that for that time?"

"Yellow?"

"Yellow? Yellow's a nice colour. Did you know the entire ruling family of Targathian only ever wear yellow, they consider it good luck."

"Good for them. I bet they're not redheads though. Redheads do… NOT… wear yellow!"

"Green then,"

"Now you're reaching."

"Orange, purple, brown, mauve, pink… no wait, forget I said pink, you would never, ever wear pink!"

Openly laughing at the Doctor's whinging tone, Donna removed her hands. "You chump!"

"Lemon, tangerine…." The Doctor continued without opening his eyes.

Donna punched him on one arm. "Open your eyes you idiot" she said affectionately.

The Doctor did so and grinned at her – before his eyes widened. "Oh Blimey!"

"What? You said you were taking me to dinner, so I thought I'd wear something nice for a change," Donna said smoothing down the front of her black and white polka dot dress. It clung to her curves in all the right places. She started to grin at him.

"Yes, right, so I did," the Doctor agreed, and then stopped. "Did we set a where?" he finished cautiously seeing Donna's face didn't seem to change or seem that excited. Feverishly he racked his brains to try to remember.

"Yes, Dragus 9," Donna offered, continuing to look at a spot past the Doctor's shoulder, her expression still frozen in the half grin.

The Time Lord frowned. Donna should be sounding so much more excited. Dragus 9 was a particularly difficult place to reach, and then you needed an invitation to enter their planetary orbit, before you even thought of asking for permission to book a table. Reservations took years and it had taken the Doctor calling in several favours to reserve them a dinner. "You don't want to go?"

"No, yes of course, I want that but…"

Footsteps on the grating behind him caused the Doctor to stop mid-sentence.

Footsteps coming up the stairs towards the main console area.

Impossible; the Tardis was currently floating in space just outside the realms of the third quadrant.

The Doctor turned, automatically putting himself in between Donna and the intruder.

"Er excuse me, nice place you have here, not sure what kind of place exactly, but nice nonetheless. You wouldn't happen to have a drink would you? I'm quite thirsty see; I've been walking for hours."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Picard finished listening to Data's report. "Thank you Mr Data. Mr Worf, Commander Riker did not board the _Enterprise_ with the rest of the landing party. Hail him; see if you regain contact so we can beam him aboard."

Sitting forward in his chair in the centre of the bridge Picard turned so he could catch the security Chief's eye, nodding once, not wanting to voice out loud the seriousness of losing unexpected contact with a member of a landing party coupled with their a seeming inability to bring him back to the ship.

"Yes Sir." Worf agreed, returning the curt nod, already busy with his console.

Satisfied for the moment, Picard sat back and looked sourly at the view of the planet below as offered by the main view screen. The blue green world of RK2579 seemed unremarkable. Although boasting an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere able to support carbon life, it had never been explored or settled by the Federation and was still classed as a Db3 planet, which meant it that any inhabitants were not yet likely to have developed space travel.

"Ensign, confirm that we are holding a geostationary orbit with the planet below." Picard told the crewman seated at Conn.

Making a few minor adjustments, the Ensign nodded. "Our orbit remains unchanged Captain. We are holding at 38,000 km out from the planet's surface sir."

"Thank you Mr Hobbs. Lt Wright, have there been any significant changes in the anomaly that first attracted our attention?" Picard asked the officer staffing Opps in Data's absence.

"No Captain. It's remaining steady at 9 million parsecs."

Picard drew a breath, nothing appeared to be wrong, but intuition was making him feel less than happy with the answers. He was unable to put his finger on it, but couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. With a sigh, he turned to Troi, knowing that the ships Councillor would have sensed his unease anyway.

"Deanna?" Picard asked softly, she was sitting next to him on his left hand side as usual. Her insight and empathic abilities were always a valuable asset in any unexpected situation.

Picard's unease mirrored her own. Seated beside the Captain, the Betazoid shook her head. "I have nothing to offer you Captain. Like you, I feel… ill at ease… However I don't have any direct sense that Commander Riker has been harmed, but I am able to sense anything from the planet at all. Not much use I know, but that's all I have, at this moment in time," she said softly.

"As you say Councillor, not much help, but thank you for trying."

A tense silence reigned on the bridge for several minutes, before the Chief of Security chose to break it. "Captain I am unable to reach Commander Riker," Worf announced formally after trying to reach the First Officer for several minutes. "Nor can I pinpoint either his whereabouts or that of his combadge. The combadge appears to have stopped transmitting. That being the case, I took the liberty to run a sensor sweep of the immediate area to no avail. I specifically searched for trace elements of the composite alloys the device, such as one would expect to find if it had been destroyed. There was none.

"However there are several heat signatures of bipedal humanoids in the area. My initial long range scan show that they share common DNA traits that are a 98.2% match to Earth Humans, although their body temperature is somewhat cooler than normal and they appear to be much less technically advanced."

"Thank you Lt Commander," Picard said with a nod. "You're sure certain there is no sign of the Commander or his combadge?"

"Yes Captain I am quite certain. I ran the scan three times just to make sure. Given my findings there is no indications that Commander Riker is on the planet."

"So the Commander is gone, but we are now picking up signs of humanoids?" Picard said turning back to Opps. "Correct me if I am wrong, Mr Wright but there was no life signs in the area when the life capsule crashed?"

The Lieutenant quickly scrolled through the information available to him from his station, since he hadn't been the officer on duty at the time. "You are correct Captain; there are no records of any life signs."

"Yet they are there now," Worf, added. "And the life pod did crash into one of their buildings. Despite the fact that initial scans indicated the building was empty at the time, the inhabitants could have perceived it's destruction as a hostile act and have taken Commander Riker hostage as a result?"

"Yes indeed. Thank you Mr Worf." Picard looked thoughtfully staring at the main view screen for several moments acknowledging the likelihood, turning over events in his mind, before he stood and pulled down his tunic. "Something doesn't feel right here, the natives, and anomaly notwithstanding. The Away Team made no mention of seeing anyone other the occupant of the life pod."

"Sir, scans of the area are now showing two groups of natives. The largest concentration of six or seven individuals are gathered around the crash site, with a smaller group some 500 metres to the west of that position. Judging from their heat signatures, maybe two or three individuals."

"Their leaders?" Picard hazarded, and then huffed to himself. "No, this is useless, speculation will get us nowhere." Tapping his combadge, the Captain drew a breath. "Picard to Data, meet me in my Ready Room at your convenience. Lt Commander La Forge please join us too. Mr Worf you're with me, Lt Capstone you have the conn." Picard said walking briskly towards his office just off the main bridge, not waiting to hear acknowledgments or seeing his instructions carried out.

Gathering himself up a cup of tea, using the time it gave him to ponder still further, Jean-Luc Picard sat down behind his desk, Worf coming to attention beside him. Data and Geordi arrived a moment later.

"Gentlemen, for the moment Commander Riker's whereabouts remain unknown," the Captain said succinctly. "Mr Data how is the science division getting on in their examination of the anomaly?"

"I have not yet received a full update Captain, but I believe much of the information has changed little from when I left as part of the initial Landing Party. We have now determined that the anomaly is of unknown origin; formed of particles and matter not of a type we have encountered before. Its waveform and electrical resonance pattern are not behaving in a correct manner as describe by Newton's Law 68th Edition. The magnetic quality of the boson particles are decidedly off vector and are also not of a pattern that we have thus far seen. Additionally the Delta, Blue, and Black light properties are microns off their expected core spectrums. I estimate that the science team will have a preliminary report ready for you in two point 76 hours."

"Under the present circumstances Mr Data, you need to make it sooner," Picard said firmly. "I need their preliminary report on my desk within the hour."

Data opened his mouth to suggest that the task was impossible, but the look Picard gave him changed his mind. He nodded briefly. "As you wish Captain," he agreed.

With a nod, Picard turned to Geordi. "Mr La Forge, I realise that, like Commander Data you have only just returned to the ship, but I presume you have already begun to run a diagnostic on Transporter Room One?"

"Yes Captain. As you are aware, a full level one diagnostic will take an Engineering team several hours to complete, and take Transporter Room One effectively off line, while it's completely stripped down and put back together again. We were fortunate that Lt Marksham was on duty when we returned, as she was quick to understand what had happened and was just completing a standard system check when I left the transporter room. There was nothing to indicate a serious malfunction."

"I see. You didn't feel or experience anything different when you beamed back up? Either of you?"

"No Captain."

"No Sir."

"There was no sense of displacement, of something being a little off or not quite right?"

"Not at all Captain," Data responded firmly.

Picard breathed out heavily, weighting his words with care. "Good, because I need to be absolutely certain that any rescue team I send down won't end up in the same situation as Commander Riker. Mr Worf has completed a sensor sweep of the entire area and has reported that no trace of the Commander is to be found. I don't want to take the chance of the same thing happening to a second landing party. If we send down a further team, I want a transport lock on them at all times."

"May I suggest that we take Transporter Room One off line and use Transporter Room Three until Engineering is able to complete a Level One diagnostic?" Data suggested.

"I concur," Wolf agreed. "A sensible precaution."

"It would certainly make sense," Geordi said nodding.

"Indeed, make it so Mr La Forge."

"I also picked up several heat signatures in and around the area. Sensors indicate the presence of several beings native to the planet. They are split into two groups, the larger of the two around the crash site of the life pod, the smaller approximately 500 metres away." Worf continued.

"Did you see anyone when you were down there?" Picard asked Geordi and Data.

"No Captain," Geordi said immediately.

"The building which the life pod crashed into was obviously not in use." Data said, recalling the incidence with near perfect clarity. "Prior to impact, I do not believe it had been used for quite a while."

"But there had obviously been a group of people living there at some point, for it to have been built in the first place. We didn't get much of a chance to look around Captain, but there were several other structures in the area." Geordi stated.

Cocking his head to one side Data nodded. "You are correct Geordi," he agreed. "However my visual record of all the buildings in the area showed them to be in various states of decay. I do not believe there has been anyone dwelling in them at the moment."

Picard looked thoughtful. "But the fact remains there was a civilisation living there at some point. At present we need to determine the whereabouts and secure the safety of Commander Riker; however we may need to find a way to communicate with these beings, if they have anything to do with the Commanders disappearance."

"Sir, I request that you allow me to lead an Away Team to the surface in order to locate Commander Rikers' whereabouts," Worf said firmly.

Picard nodded. "Yes Mr Worf, I intend to ask you to do just that. You and a security detail. I just want to be as sure as possible, that you don't encounter any other surprises along the way."

"Yes sir, thank you," Worf replied, already itching to be on his way.

"Lt Commander do not forget that RK2579 now comes under the jurisprudence of the Prime Directive now we have identified the very real possibility of existing native inhabitants." Data added. "You and your team must make every effort not to be seen or interact with the natives until it has been unequivocally established that they are Commander Riker."

"Commander Data is correct," Picard agreed. "We cannot risk any further contamination of their belief system at this stage. Or further disturbance of their way of life."

"I will be careful," Worf agreed.

"One last thing," Picard suggested leaning forward slightly to open a Comm channel to Sickbay. "Dr Crusher, may I have a moment of your time please?"

Dr Crushers face appeared on screen a moment later. "Yes Captain, how can I help you?" she said indicating an instrument selection to someone off screen. "Yes, that one, the size 02."

"Your patient doctor?"

"Yes Captain that is who I am working on at the moment. I'm doing my best to stabiles him and fully assess his injuries. Speaking of which, I really need to get back to him, I'll let you know when I have anything further to report."

"I need that report now doctor,"

"I don't have much more to give you than that, I'm afraid."

"Commander Riker is missing doctor," Picard said firmly.

Beverly blinked. "Missing?" she enquired.

"Yes, he failed to transport aboard with the remainder of the Away Team."

"Transporter malfunction?"

"That we are still trying to determine, it seems unlikely though."

"Then how can I help?"

"Has our guest regained consciousness at all?"

"No Captain and he's not likely to for some time." Beverly said looking down at the data padd in her hands. "Ok, as far as a preliminary report goes. My initial scans show massive internal bruising and blood pooling in his thoracic cavity, decreasing his ability to breathe amongst other things. Bruising and lacerations to the left side of his temple and occipital bone at the back of his head indicates that he will likely suffer some degree of concussion, which may or may not indicate memory loss. I already know that four of his ribs have broken bilaterally across his chest in a diagonal pattern, the likely hood that the straps on an internal harness failed. Additionally there are compound fractures to his right femur, left pelvis, left Glenohumeral joint, that's the ball and socket articulation between the head of the humerus and the glenoid cavity of the scapula as well as complete breaks to his left ulna, and radius. He should make a full recovery, but it will take a day or so before he'll be able to give you any useful information."

"Understood Doctor, however he may or may not hold the key to finding Will, so please do your best to stabilise him, I'll be down shortly."

"You will be going against medical advice, even if it is possible for me to bring him round."

"Noted Doctor, Picard out." The Captain said terminating the call. He looked round at his assembled Officers, "Gentlemen, you have your orders," he said dismissing him. "Mr Data, a moment if you please."

"Of course Captain."

\+ Truly a most fascinating place + Orac hummed to itself, still in the purpose-built metal carrying case Avon had constructed many months ago in order to make the super computer more portable. The case had yet to be opened, however Avon had slid Orac's activation key into its connection port shortly before blacking out in the escape pod, leaving Orac with rare control over his own abilities. Having ridden down to the surface of the planet in with Avon, and been taken up to the _Enterprise_ by Data, a helpful tech had then taken Orac's case down to Main Engineering soon after, on the mistaken assumption that the box contained some of the Chief Engineers personal tools.

Orac hadn't minded in the slightest. The dematerialism effect of the _Enterprise's_ transporters was a new experience for the self-aware super computer; the forces at play completely different from the technology found on the _Liberator_. If a computer could be described as happy, Orac felt in its element. It was inside a truly alien machine. Fascinating! First on the list was to learn to communicate properly. Orac had reached out eagerly to study everything it could about its new surroundings, only to learn that he could not connect with the _Enterprise D_ as easily as it normally could with other computers, as there was not a Tarriel cell in sight.

Orac had only just begun to scratch the surface of understanding how the _Enterprise_ had been constructed and powered when it found itself interrupted by Zen.

\+ Information. Repairs to _Liberators _systems continue apace. We are not yet fully functional, however a nitrogen/oxygen mix able to support life human life has been restored + Zen told Orac via a subspace channel. As per Orac's instructions, Zen gave Orac hourly updates on the status of the ship.

\+ Very well. What is your estimated repair time? +

\+ Systems indicate another eight hours and 23 minutes before full power is restored. Energy banks three through to seven remain drained of power. Transporter function will be available in 2 hours and 57 minutes. Computers are responding to search, locate and recovery +

\+ You heard from the crew. +

\+ Affirmative. A voice transmission from Blake stated that he is safe and well on the planet Epheron. It is a planet of the system Lauritol with several primitive life forms. Jenna reports superficial injuries in a life capsule malfunction. She is aboard a neutral cargo carrier in transit to the planet Morphenniel and advises that her situation requires no priority treatment. There has been no communication from Vila, Cally or Avon +

\+ Avon has been found by the humans aboard this ship. He was badly injured, and is currently undergoing emergency treatment. We have not heard from Vila or Cally + Orac said, preparing to continue with the more pressing task of learning everything about the _Enterprise _. + Report again in one hour +

There was silence for several moments before Zen surprised Orac by interrupting his studies once more.

\+ Information +

\+ Yes? What is it now? +

\+ A space vehicle is registering on the detectors. Visual scans indicate that it is approaching the _Liberator._ Statistical analysis suggest it will attempt docking with the side port entrance +

\+ Can you identify the craft? +

\+ Negative +

\+ Is there any voice contact with the space vehicle? + Orac asked, its internal lights blinking faster as it processed the unforeseen data.

\+ Negative +

\+ Is it continuing to approach? +

\+ Confirmed. Full function has been restored to _Liberator_ weapon systems, the vehicle could be destroyed +

\+ You will do no such thing! It is most likely to be one of the crew returning. Do not bother me with such trivialities + Orac said dismissively. + I am in the midst of some fascinating discoveries +

"Information. The space vehicle is now outside safe strike range and continuing forward motion +

Orac's diverted a small amount of its vast energies towards the problem Zen was announcing, even though it regarded the conversation as an irritant, taking it away from the fascinating exploration of _Enterprise._ \+ Yes, of course, why didn't I think of this before? Zen let me see this ship for myself. + Orac demanded, linking with the _Liberators_ sensors so get a glimpse of the oncoming spacecraft. +

The space vehicle about to dock with Liberator resembled an angular horseshoe in shape; it was bright red and battle damaged. Orac recognised the design as Callipson, a neutral planet, several million parsecs distinct. Using _Liberators_ systems Orac tried to initiate contact itself, but received no response.

\+ I am unable to communicate with the space vehicle either + Orac told Zen + Initiate a gamma level quarantine and lock inner hatch doors +

\+ Con... Zen ceased transmitting abruptly; all communication lost.

Orac sat and thought about the probabilities of Zen losing all power, blowing up, or more likely being boarded by unknown and potentially hostile entities. He set a small part of his cells aside to ponder the problem, and continued to probe the_ Enterprises' _systems.

The Doctor stared hard at Vila. It was simply impossible for anyone to arrive unannounced in the Tardis. After the incidence with Donna and the excitable Huon particles inside her, he had tightened the shielding around the time machine enormously. "Wait, what? Walking for hours? That's impossible. "What are you, some kind of hologram?"

"No … I've told you, my name is Vila, and I've been walking for hours," Vila tried to explain. "I got lost, in the forest out there…"

"Right, yes of course," the Doctor said calmly in a tone of utter disbelief, surreptitiously putting down the gadget he'd been fiddling with prior to Vila's arrival, while turning his sonic screwdriver to scan for life signs and pointing it in his direction. "What are you, some kind of hologram?"

The sonic beeped. The Doctor frowned, shaking it a couple of times. "Really… Really?" he asked it, tapping it against one of his hands. Pushing his glasses up his nose, the Doctor squinted at the screwdriver. Reading the sonic was an art form at the best of times. Right at that moment, its readings refused to make sense. "Hmmm, it seems you're corporeal enough."

"I'm what?"

"Present. It seems you're really here," the Doctor said quite rudely. "So the question is; how did you get in? Some kind of matter transporter?"

"I walked."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You can't have done," he said flatly. "You're obviously here for some reason? Am I supposed to guess what that is? Who are you…?"

"I'm Vila, that's all, just Vila." Vila said rather bemused by the stranger's reaction to him; his exhilaration at finding 'civilisation' drained away completely, leaving him feeling unexpectedly tired. Unnoticed by anyone apart from Donna, Vila wavered slightly on his feet.

Frowning the Doctor continued to wave his sonic about, before deciding to tap it firmly against the Tardis control panel several times with a loud metallic twang, causing both Donna and Vila to jump. "Ok, let's try this now shall we. No really, this is rubbish… right well as you're physically here, so the fact remains - what are you? Some kind of shape shifter then? Where is your home planet then?"

Vila looked at the Doctor in bemusement. All he'd wanted was a drink or two, a chance to sit down, rest a bit, and get his wrist sorted. Nothing the Doctor was saying to him made any kind of sense. "Eh? What's that? It's Earth, of course," he said caught off guard and answering truthfully. Realising his error, he tried to deflect. "That is, I mean to say. I've been walking for a long time; really all I need is a drink, and maybe the chance to sort my wrist out a bit."

Still looking at his readings on the screwdriver, the Doctor shook it a couple of times. "Well you're not a shape shifter," he agreed. "You could be a plasmavor I suppose, which… Earth you said… mmm, well you're apparently human, well human enough anyway, with a few extra bits I don't quite understand yet. What's wrong with this thing?"

Looking quite alarmed Vila stepped backwards down a step, clutching hold of the handrail with his good hand as his worldview wobbled a bit. "What? I'm human, of course, I'm human. I don't have any extra bits; well at least I don't think I have. What extra bits are you talking about?"

"Doctor," Donna said quietly, though her voice contained a hint of warning. She'd watched the stranger slowly seem to deflate in energy as he'd entered the Tardis, and now he looked rather unsteady on his feet.

The Doctor gave Donna a questioning glance. He had learned the hard way not to ignore that tone. Donna looked pointedly at Vila and mimed holding her arm, her left eyebrow raised in what was clearly a question.

Tired, Vila watched the byplay between the Doctor and Donna and took another step down. "Perhaps I've come at the wrong time, and should just leave?" he suggested.

"You need to be nice," Donna warned; her voice low enough for only the Doctor to hear.

With a look of exasperation and fondness in equal measure, the Doctor turned back to regard Vila with keen interest, once more, and noticing that he'd moved away, quickly closed the gap between them. "No, no-no, why would you want to do that, you've just got here after all? Don't you want to see everything now you're here?"

"I don't want to be here," agreed Vila, deciding that the man in front of him was seriously unwell and as changeable as Avon could be, which probably made him just as dangerous too. "I've changed my mind and…"

"Then why not change it back again? I change my mind all the time, well most of it at any rate," the Doctor said deliberately prattling as he took several more scans of Vila, waving his sonic around again, trying to track down the odd readings he was getting.

Vila found his eyes following the motion unwittingly. He began to look more anxious by the moment.

"Hmm, nothing remarkable, just a little odd; how did you say you got here again?"

"I walked. From the forest." Vila tried patiently.

Still waving his sonic, the Doctor sucked in a breath. "Oooo…"

"Oooo?" repeated Vila. "What's an Oooo?"

"Ha! I knew I'd get it. Your quantum signature is off…"

"Eh?"

"Oh, not by much, 0.04492% - but that's a huge amount on the Lutan scale, not that anyone really uses the Lutan scale any more, except of course the Lutan's, and well the Tegarns and their small conglomerate of miners, and the Zoorons, mustn't forget them… and…"

"Doctor; stop it." Donna said firmly.

The Doctor looked at his assistant and scowled.

Donna copied the motion.

Seeing the funny side of things, the Doctor grinned and turned back to Vila, who regarded the now smiling Time Lord with even more distrust.

"I'm sorry; I really don't feel at all good. Perhaps I should just leave," Vila, said carefully taking another step backwards, then clutching at the railings as he stumbled a bit.

Donna took a step towards Vila in sympathy. She knew she was rubbish at reading people, but there was something about him that she couldn't just help feeling sorry for.

"Donna, stay where you are," the Doctor warned, before turning on Vila again. "You can't leave, not now. Just tell me how you really got here."

"I've already told you, hundreds of times. I. Walked. Here." Vila said slowly as if talking to an idiot. "My life pod crashed. I got out, walked all day, until I found your village, and well here I am."

"So you are," the Doctor agreed. "And that's why we have a problem, because it's impossible and do you know why it's impossible…?"

Motioning to Donna to keep back, as she'd crept forward despite his words, still not sure what kind of threat Vila possessed, if any at all, but determined to get to the bottom of the mystery he presented, the Doctor scooted quickly round their unexpected visitor and walked up to the Tardis doors which he flung open with a flourish. "Because of this! Would you like to try again, as you can see, we're in space!"

Donna stared through the open door. "Er Doctor, I don't think…"

"The alleyway, just like I was trying to explain to you," Vila said, looking at the crates and odd bits of rubbish he'd seen moments ago. "I really should go, I won't tell anyone anything, I promise…"

The Doctor looked from Donna to Vila and then through the doors of the Tardis. They did indeed appear to show a narrow alleyway. "What? But that's impossible!" he stammered.

They were in space, drifting along just inside the time vortex, and had been for a few days, while they'd caught their breath after their adventures on Bendenium. The Doctor had spent his time tinkering on a few pet projects, while Donna had lazed away a few days reading and topping up on her sleep.

"It looks like an alley to me Doctor," Donna said agreeing with Vila.

"But it can't be."

Tired, Vila sat down on the steps leading up to the main platform. "It's an ally, of course it's an alley, what else could it be?" he said despondently thinking the Doctor was quite, quite mad.

"A projection?" Donna hazarded.

The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver at the doorway; it buzzed and whirred then fell silent. The Doctor looked at his instrument, and then cautiously reached out to touch his hand to the doorway. When in space a forcefield allowed the Tardis doors to open without loss of atmosphere. The field should have glowed blue to the touch.

There was nothing to impede the Doctors hand as it passed the threshold of the doorway and was 'outside'. Experimentally the Doctor wiggled his fingers about, then cautiously stuck his head outside, and drew in a lungful of air.

"Well?" Donna asked from her position, keeping an eye both on Vila and the Doctor. "Oh no… don't you dare…" she said suddenly as she saw the Doctor attempt to put a foot outside. "What happens if the doors close, we're really in space, and I'm left her with… with… with him?"

"I'm Vila you know," Vila said to no one in particular.

The Doctor put his foot outside the Tardis, nothing happened. Grinning he prepared to step forward.

Donna growled. "Do not do it," she warned.

"I'm holding on, see, holding on…" The Doctor made a show of holding onto the doorway as he stepped outside.

Nothing happened.

The Doctor looked round. "Well that was a bit… A bit anticlimactic actually."

Keeping an eye on the Doctor, feeling a little bit sorry for their guest, Donna moved to sit on the steps next to Vila. "I would ask how you are doing, but I can see you've hurt your arm," she tried sympathetically.

"I think it's broken," Vila said miserably. "I could really do with a drink. My head hurts as well as my arm."

"A drink, that's maybe something I can help with." Donna suggested. "What can I get you?"

"I don't suppose you have any Soma? It would help with my arm see?" Vila tried hopefully.

Donna shook her head. "I don't know what that is, I'm sorry. I could get you a tea maybe, or some water. Don't worry about the Doctor… whatever is wrong; he'll help… just talk to him."

Will Riker stared at the screen in frustration. Despite several rounds of shocks, the natives didn't seem that they were likely to give up any time soon. "Your plan doesn't seem to be working," he told Danya.

"Yes, they do seem to be unusually stubborn today don't they," the young woman responded also looking at the screen.

"Do you have any other bright ideas?"

"Yes, actually, I do." Danya smiled.

"Good, then I'd like to hear it."

"We wait," Danya said simply. "And have a proper meal, not just a piece of fruit. Whatever happens, they won't stay out after dark."

"Do I want to know why?"

"They're a superstitious lot; they think nasty things walk the earth at night."

"What kind of nasty things?"

Danya shrugged. "Do you know, I've never found out? Isn't that strange?"

"So for all you know, it could be true?"

"Oh come on. Surely someone like you can't believe in monsters under the bed?"

Riker chucked humourlessly. "Believe me, I've met plenty of monsters, and most had nothing to do with bed sheets."

"Oh do tell, I love a good story." Danya said opening several cupboards and pulling out a varied assortment of ingredients."

"Some other time maybe, not now. We really can't afford to stay here much longer."

"I can, I often spend several nights up here. Will your friends come looking for you?"

"They will," Will Riker, agreed attempting to activate his combadge once more, scowling when nothing appeared to happen, the communication device not even acknowledging an open channel.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. In a couple of hours the Sorrens will have got bored, we can leave and look for your friends. I see the cut on your head has stopped bleeding now, come and help me prepare a meal."

"Now, remember the Prime Directive remains in force on this planet. We do not show ourselves or allow ourselves to be seen by the indigenous people. This is a recon mission only. Our objectives are to locate Commander Riker. If an opportunity arises where we can extract him unseen, then we will do so. Otherwise we will report back to the ship in one hour and discuss his rescue further." Worf said firmly.

It had taken engineering nearly half an hour to finish a standard diagnostic on Transporter Room 3 – just to be on the safe side, as Geordi had said. In the meantime, Worf had chosen his security team carefully. They were all seasoned security team members, that were unlikely to be trigger happy, or misinterpret any difficult situations.

Data had come to see Worf off; handing the Chief of Security a tricorder he'd programmed with the exact coordinates of Riker's last recorded whereabouts.

"Do not take any chances," he told the Klingon. "The initial findings of the anomaly are intriguing but inherently unstable. Now would not be a good time to take unnecessary risks, Commander Riker's whereabouts, and safety notwithstanding."

"Understood."

Data turned to the transporter operator as Worf and his team climbed onto the transporter platform. "Ensign, keep a lock on the Away Team at all times. Be ready to beam them back at a moment's notice."

"Yes, sir."

"Then energise."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

Picard finished listening to Data's report. "Thank you Mr Data. Mr Worf, Commander Riker did not board the _Enterprise_ with the rest of the landing party. Hail him; see if you regain contact so we can beam him aboard."

Sitting forward in his chair in the centre of the bridge Picard turned so he could catch the security Chief's eye, nodding once, not wanting to voice out loud the seriousness of losing unexpected contact with a member of a landing party coupled with their a seeming inability to bring him back to the ship.

"Yes Sir." Worf agreed, returning the curt nod, already busy with his console.

Satisfied for the moment, Picard sat back and looked sourly at the view of the planet below as offered by the main view screen. The blue green world of RK2579 seemed unremarkable. Although boasting an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere able to support carbon life, it had never been explored or settled by the Federation and was still classed as a Db3 planet, which meant it that any inhabitants were not yet likely to have developed space travel.

"Ensign, confirm that we are holding a geostationary orbit with the planet below." Picard told the crewman seated at Conn.

Making a few minor adjustments, the Ensign nodded. "Our orbit remains unchanged Captain. We are holding at 38,000 km out from the planet's surface sir."

"Thank you Mr Hobbs. Lt Wright, have there been any significant changes in the anomaly that first attracted our attention?" Picard asked the officer staffing Opps in Data's absence.

"No Captain. It's remaining steady at 9 million parsecs."

Picard drew a breath, nothing appeared to be wrong, but intuition was making him feel less than happy with the answers. He was unable to put his finger on it, but couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. With a sigh, he turned to Troi, knowing that the ships Councillor would have sensed his unease anyway.

"Deanna?" Picard asked softly, she was sitting next to him on his left hand side as usual. Her insight and empathic abilities were always a valuable asset in any unexpected situation.

Picard's unease mirrored her own. Seated beside the Captain, the Betazoid shook her head. "I have nothing to offer you Captain. Like you, I feel… ill at ease… However I don't have any direct sense that Commander Riker has been harmed, but I am able to sense anything from the planet at all. Not much use I know, but that's all I have, at this moment in time," she said softly.

"As you say Councillor, not much help, but thank you for trying."

A tense silence reigned on the bridge for several minutes, before the Chief of Security chose to break it. "Captain I am unable to reach Commander Riker," Worf announced formally after trying to reach the First Officer for several minutes. "Nor can I pinpoint either his whereabouts or that of his combadge. The combadge appears to have stopped transmitting. That being the case, I took the liberty to run a sensor sweep of the immediate area to no avail. I specifically searched for trace elements of the composite alloys the device, such as one would expect to find if it had been destroyed. There was none.

"However there are several heat signatures of bipedal humanoids in the area. My initial long range scan show that they share common DNA traits that are a 98.2% match to Earth Humans, although their body temperature is somewhat cooler than normal and they appear to be much less technically advanced."

"Thank you Lt Commander," Picard said with a nod. "You're sure certain there is no sign of the Commander or his combadge?"

"Yes Captain I am quite certain. I ran the scan three times just to make sure. Given my findings there is no indications that Commander Riker is on the planet."

"So the Commander is gone, but we are now picking up signs of humanoids?" Picard said turning back to Opps. "Correct me if I am wrong, Mr Wright but there was no life signs in the area when the life capsule crashed?"

The Lieutenant quickly scrolled through the information available to him from his station, since he hadn't been the officer on duty at the time. "You are correct Captain; there are no records of any life signs."

"Yet they are there now," Worf, added. "And the life pod did crash into one of their buildings. Despite the fact that initial scans indicated the building was empty at the time, the inhabitants could have perceived it's destruction as a hostile act and have taken Commander Riker hostage as a result?"

"Yes indeed. Thank you Mr Worf." Picard looked thoughtfully staring at the main view screen for several moments acknowledging the likelihood, turning over events in his mind, before he stood and pulled down his tunic. "Something doesn't feel right here, the natives, and anomaly notwithstanding. The Away Team made no mention of seeing anyone other the occupant of the life pod."

"Sir, scans of the area are now showing two groups of natives. The largest concentration of six or seven individuals are gathered around the crash site, with a smaller group some 500 metres to the west of that position. Judging from their heat signatures, maybe two or three individuals."

"Their leaders?" Picard hazarded, and then huffed to himself. "No, this is useless, speculation will get us nowhere." Tapping his combadge, the Captain drew a breath. "Picard to Data, meet me in my Ready Room at your convenience. Lt Commander La Forge please join us too. Mr Worf you're with me, Lt Capstone you have the conn." Picard said walking briskly towards his office just off the main bridge, not waiting to hear acknowledgments or seeing his instructions carried out.

Gathering himself up a cup of tea, using the time it gave him to ponder still further, Jean-Luc Picard sat down behind his desk, Worf coming to attention beside him. Data and Geordi arrived a moment later.

"Gentlemen, for the moment Commander Riker's whereabouts remain unknown," the Captain said succinctly. "Mr Data how is the science division getting on in their examination of the anomaly?"

"I have not yet received a full update Captain, but I believe much of the information has changed little from when I left as part of the initial Landing Party. We have now determined that the anomaly is of unknown origin; formed of particles and matter not of a type we have encountered before. Its waveform and electrical resonance pattern are not behaving in a correct manner as describe by Newton's Law 68th Edition. The magnetic quality of the boson particles are decidedly off vector and are also not of a pattern that we have thus far seen. Additionally the Delta, Blue, and Black light properties are microns off their expected core spectrums. I estimate that the science team will have a preliminary report ready for you in two point 76 hours."

"Under the present circumstances Mr Data, you need to make it sooner," Picard said firmly. "I need their preliminary report on my desk within the hour."

Data opened his mouth to suggest that the task was impossible, but the look Picard gave him changed his mind. He nodded briefly. "As you wish Captain," he agreed.

With a nod, Picard turned to Geordi. "Mr La Forge, I realise that, like Commander Data you have only just returned to the ship, but I presume you have already begun to run a diagnostic on Transporter Room One?"

"Yes Captain. As you are aware, a full level one diagnostic will take an Engineering team several hours to complete, and take Transporter Room One effectively off line, while it's completely stripped down and put back together again. We were fortunate that Lt Marksham was on duty when we returned, as she was quick to understand what had happened and was just completing a standard system check when I left the transporter room. There was nothing to indicate a serious malfunction."

"I see. You didn't feel or experience anything different when you beamed back up? Either of you?"

"No Captain."

"No Sir."

"There was no sense of displacement, of something being a little off or not quite right?"

"Not at all Captain," Data responded firmly.

Picard breathed out heavily, weighting his words with care. "Good, because I need to be absolutely certain that any rescue team I send down won't end up in the same situation as Commander Riker. Mr Worf has completed a sensor sweep of the entire area and has reported that no trace of the Commander is to be found. I don't want to take the chance of the same thing happening to a second landing party. If we send down a further team, I want a transport lock on them at all times."

"May I suggest that we take Transporter Room One off line and use Transporter Room Three until Engineering is able to complete a Level One diagnostic?" Data suggested.

"I concur," Wolf agreed. "A sensible precaution."

"It would certainly make sense," Geordi said nodding.

"Indeed, make it so Mr La Forge."

"I also picked up several heat signatures in and around the area. Sensors indicate the presence of several beings native to the planet. They are split into two groups, the larger of the two around the crash site of the life pod, the smaller approximately 500 metres away." Worf continued.

"Did you see anyone when you were down there?" Picard asked Geordi and Data.

"No Captain," Geordi said immediately.

"The building which the life pod crashed into was obviously not in use." Data said, recalling the incidence with near perfect clarity. "Prior to impact, I do not believe it had been used for quite a while."

"But there had obviously been a group of people living there at some point, for it to have been built in the first place. We didn't get much of a chance to look around Captain, but there were several other structures in the area." Geordi stated.

Cocking his head to one side Data nodded. "You are correct Geordi," he agreed. "However my visual record of all the buildings in the area showed them to be in various states of decay. I do not believe there has been anyone dwelling in them at the moment."

Picard looked thoughtful. "But the fact remains there was a civilisation living there at some point. At present we need to determine the whereabouts and secure the safety of Commander Riker; however we may need to find a way to communicate with these beings, if they have anything to do with the Commanders disappearance."

"Sir, I request that you allow me to lead an Away Team to the surface in order to locate Commander Rikers' whereabouts," Worf said firmly.

Picard nodded. "Yes Mr Worf, I intend to ask you to do just that. You and a security detail. I just want to be as sure as possible, that you don't encounter any other surprises along the way."

"Yes sir, thank you," Worf replied, already itching to be on his way.

"Lt Commander do not forget that RK2579 now comes under the jurisprudence of the Prime Directive now we have identified the very real possibility of existing native inhabitants." Data added. "You and your team must make every effort not to be seen or interact with the natives until it has been unequivocally established that they are Commander Riker."

"Commander Data is correct," Picard agreed. "We cannot risk any further contamination of their belief system at this stage. Or further disturbance of their way of life."

"I will be careful," Worf agreed.

"One last thing," Picard suggested leaning forward slightly to open a Comm channel to Sickbay. "Dr Crusher, may I have a moment of your time please?"

Dr Crushers face appeared on screen a moment later. "Yes Captain, how can I help you?" she said indicating an instrument selection to someone off screen. "Yes, that one, the size 02."

"Your patient doctor?"

"Yes Captain that is who I am working on at the moment. I'm doing my best to stabiles him and fully assess his injuries. Speaking of which, I really need to get back to him, I'll let you know when I have anything further to report."

"I need that report now doctor,"

"I don't have much more to give you than that, I'm afraid."

"Commander Riker is missing doctor," Picard said firmly.

Beverly blinked. "Missing?" she enquired.

"Yes, he failed to transport aboard with the remainder of the Away Team."

"Transporter malfunction?"

"That we are still trying to determine, it seems unlikely though."

"Then how can I help?"

"Has our guest regained consciousness at all?"

"No Captain and he's not likely to for some time." Beverly said looking down at the data padd in her hands. "Ok, as far as a preliminary report goes. My initial scans show massive internal bruising and blood pooling in his thoracic cavity, decreasing his ability to breathe amongst other things. Bruising and lacerations to the left side of his temple and occipital bone at the back of his head indicates that he will likely suffer some degree of concussion, which may or may not indicate memory loss. I already know that four of his ribs have broken bilaterally across his chest in a diagonal pattern, the likely hood that the straps on an internal harness failed. Additionally there are compound fractures to his right femur, left pelvis, left Glenohumeral joint, that's the ball and socket articulation between the head of the humerus and the glenoid cavity of the scapula as well as complete breaks to his left ulna, and radius. He should make a full recovery, but it will take a day or so before he'll be able to give you any useful information."

"Understood Doctor, however he may or may not hold the key to finding Will, so please do your best to stabilise him, I'll be down shortly."

"You will be going against medical advice, even if it is possible for me to bring him round."

"Noted Doctor, Picard out." The Captain said terminating the call. He looked round at his assembled Officers, "Gentlemen, you have your orders," he said dismissing him. "Mr Data, a moment if you please."

"Of course Captain."

\+ Truly a most fascinating place + Orac hummed to itself, still in the purpose-built metal carrying case Avon had constructed many months ago in order to make the super computer more portable. The case had yet to be opened, however Avon had slid Orac's activation key into its connection port shortly before blacking out in the escape pod, leaving Orac with rare control over his own abilities. Having ridden down to the surface of the planet in with Avon, and been taken up to the _Enterprise_ by Data, a helpful tech had then taken Orac's case down to Main Engineering soon after, on the mistaken assumption that the box contained some of the Chief Engineers personal tools.

Orac hadn't minded in the slightest. The dematerialism effect of the _Enterprise's_ transporters was a new experience for the self-aware super computer; the forces at play completely different from the technology found on the _Liberator_. If a computer could be described as happy, Orac felt in its element. It was inside a truly alien machine. Fascinating! First on the list was to learn to communicate properly. Orac had reached out eagerly to study everything it could about its new surroundings, only to learn that he could not connect with the _Enterprise D_ as easily as it normally could with other computers, as there was not a Tarriel cell in sight.

Orac had only just begun to scratch the surface of understanding how the _Enterprise_ had been constructed and powered when it found itself interrupted by Zen.

\+ Information. Repairs to _Liberators _systems continue apace. We are not yet fully functional, however a nitrogen/oxygen mix able to support life human life has been restored + Zen told Orac via a subspace channel. As per Orac's instructions, Zen gave Orac hourly updates on the status of the ship.

\+ Very well. What is your estimated repair time? +

\+ Systems indicate another eight hours and 23 minutes before full power is restored. Energy banks three through to seven remain drained of power. Transporter function will be available in 2 hours and 57 minutes. Computers are responding to search, locate and recovery +

\+ You heard from the crew. +

\+ Affirmative. A voice transmission from Blake stated that he is safe and well on the planet Epheron. It is a planet of the system Lauritol with several primitive life forms. Jenna reports superficial injuries in a life capsule malfunction. She is aboard a neutral cargo carrier in transit to the planet Morphenniel and advises that her situation requires no priority treatment. There has been no communication from Vila, Cally or Avon +

\+ Avon has been found by the humans aboard this ship. He was badly injured, and is currently undergoing emergency treatment. We have not heard from Vila or Cally + Orac said, preparing to continue with the more pressing task of learning everything about the _Enterprise _. + Report again in one hour +

There was silence for several moments before Zen surprised Orac by interrupting his studies once more.

\+ Information +

\+ Yes? What is it now? +

\+ A space vehicle is registering on the detectors. Visual scans indicate that it is approaching the _Liberator._ Statistical analysis suggest it will attempt docking with the side port entrance +

\+ Can you identify the craft? +

\+ Negative +

\+ Is there any voice contact with the space vehicle? + Orac asked, its internal lights blinking faster as it processed the unforeseen data.

\+ Negative +

\+ Is it continuing to approach? +

\+ Confirmed. Full function has been restored to _Liberator_ weapon systems, the vehicle could be destroyed +

\+ You will do no such thing! It is most likely to be one of the crew returning. Do not bother me with such trivialities + Orac said dismissively. + I am in the midst of some fascinating discoveries +

"Information. The space vehicle is now outside safe strike range and continuing forward motion +

Orac's diverted a small amount of its vast energies towards the problem Zen was announcing, even though it regarded the conversation as an irritant, taking it away from the fascinating exploration of _Enterprise._ \+ Yes, of course, why didn't I think of this before? Zen let me see this ship for myself. + Orac demanded, linking with the _Liberators_ sensors so get a glimpse of the oncoming spacecraft. +

The space vehicle about to dock with Liberator resembled an angular horseshoe in shape; it was bright red and battle damaged. Orac recognised the design as Callipson, a neutral planet, several million parsecs distinct. Using _Liberators_ systems Orac tried to initiate contact itself, but received no response.

\+ I am unable to communicate with the space vehicle either + Orac told Zen + Initiate a gamma level quarantine and lock inner hatch doors +

\+ Con... Zen ceased transmitting abruptly; all communication lost.

Orac sat and thought about the probabilities of Zen losing all power, blowing up, or more likely being boarded by unknown and potentially hostile entities. He set a small part of his cells aside to ponder the problem, and continued to probe the_ Enterprises' _systems.

The Doctor stared hard at Vila. It was simply impossible for anyone to arrive unannounced in the Tardis. After the incidence with Donna and the excitable Huon particles inside her, he had tightened the shielding around the time machine enormously. "Wait, what? Walking for hours? That's impossible. "What are you, some kind of hologram?"

"No … I've told you, my name is Vila, and I've been walking for hours," Vila tried to explain. "I got lost, in the forest out there…"

"Right, yes of course," the Doctor said calmly in a tone of utter disbelief, surreptitiously putting down the gadget he'd been fiddling with prior to Vila's arrival, while turning his sonic screwdriver to scan for life signs and pointing it in his direction. "What are you, some kind of hologram?"

The sonic beeped. The Doctor frowned, shaking it a couple of times. "Really… Really?" he asked it, tapping it against one of his hands. Pushing his glasses up his nose, the Doctor squinted at the screwdriver. Reading the sonic was an art form at the best of times. Right at that moment, its readings refused to make sense. "Hmmm, it seems you're corporeal enough."

"I'm what?"

"Present. It seems you're really here," the Doctor said quite rudely. "So the question is; how did you get in? Some kind of matter transporter?"

"I walked."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You can't have done," he said flatly. "You're obviously here for some reason? Am I supposed to guess what that is? Who are you…?"

"I'm Vila, that's all, just Vila." Vila said rather bemused by the stranger's reaction to him; his exhilaration at finding 'civilisation' drained away completely, leaving him feeling unexpectedly tired. Unnoticed by anyone apart from Donna, Vila wavered slightly on his feet.

Frowning the Doctor continued to wave his sonic about, before deciding to tap it firmly against the Tardis control panel several times with a loud metallic twang, causing both Donna and Vila to jump. "Ok, let's try this now shall we. No really, this is rubbish… right well as you're physically here, so the fact remains - what are you? Some kind of shape shifter then? Where is your home planet then?"

Vila looked at the Doctor in bemusement. All he'd wanted was a drink or two, a chance to sit down, rest a bit, and get his wrist sorted. Nothing the Doctor was saying to him made any kind of sense. "Eh? What's that? It's Earth, of course," he said caught off guard and answering truthfully. Realising his error, he tried to deflect. "That is, I mean to say. I've been walking for a long time; really all I need is a drink, and maybe the chance to sort my wrist out a bit."

Still looking at his readings on the screwdriver, the Doctor shook it a couple of times. "Well you're not a shape shifter," he agreed. "You could be a plasmavor I suppose, which… Earth you said… mmm, well you're apparently human, well human enough anyway, with a few extra bits I don't quite understand yet. What's wrong with this thing?"

Looking quite alarmed Vila stepped backwards down a step, clutching hold of the handrail with his good hand as his worldview wobbled a bit. "What? I'm human, of course, I'm human. I don't have any extra bits; well at least I don't think I have. What extra bits are you talking about?"

"Doctor," Donna said quietly, though her voice contained a hint of warning. She'd watched the stranger slowly seem to deflate in energy as he'd entered the Tardis, and now he looked rather unsteady on his feet.

The Doctor gave Donna a questioning glance. He had learned the hard way not to ignore that tone. Donna looked pointedly at Vila and mimed holding her arm, her left eyebrow raised in what was clearly a question.

Tired, Vila watched the byplay between the Doctor and Donna and took another step down. "Perhaps I've come at the wrong time, and should just leave?" he suggested.

"You need to be nice," Donna warned; her voice low enough for only the Doctor to hear.

With a look of exasperation and fondness in equal measure, the Doctor turned back to regard Vila with keen interest, once more, and noticing that he'd moved away, quickly closed the gap between them. "No, no-no, why would you want to do that, you've just got here after all? Don't you want to see everything now you're here?"

"I don't want to be here," agreed Vila, deciding that the man in front of him was seriously unwell and as changeable as Avon could be, which probably made him just as dangerous too. "I've changed my mind and…"

"Then why not change it back again? I change my mind all the time, well most of it at any rate," the Doctor said deliberately prattling as he took several more scans of Vila, waving his sonic around again, trying to track down the odd readings he was getting.

Vila found his eyes following the motion unwittingly. He began to look more anxious by the moment.

"Hmm, nothing remarkable, just a little odd; how did you say you got here again?"

"I walked. From the forest." Vila tried patiently.

Still waving his sonic, the Doctor sucked in a breath. "Oooo…"

"Oooo?" repeated Vila. "What's an Oooo?"

"Ha! I knew I'd get it. Your quantum signature is off…"

"Eh?"

"Oh, not by much, 0.04492% - but that's a huge amount on the Lutan scale, not that anyone really uses the Lutan scale any more, except of course the Lutan's, and well the Tegarns and their small conglomerate of miners, and the Zoorons, mustn't forget them… and…"

"Doctor; stop it." Donna said firmly.

The Doctor looked at his assistant and scowled.

Donna copied the motion.

Seeing the funny side of things, the Doctor grinned and turned back to Vila, who regarded the now smiling Time Lord with even more distrust.

"I'm sorry; I really don't feel at all good. Perhaps I should just leave," Vila, said carefully taking another step backwards, then clutching at the railings as he stumbled a bit.

Donna took a step towards Vila in sympathy. She knew she was rubbish at reading people, but there was something about him that she couldn't just help feeling sorry for.

"Donna, stay where you are," the Doctor warned, before turning on Vila again. "You can't leave, not now. Just tell me how you really got here."

"I've already told you, hundreds of times. I. Walked. Here." Vila said slowly as if talking to an idiot. "My life pod crashed. I got out, walked all day, until I found your village, and well here I am."

"So you are," the Doctor agreed. "And that's why we have a problem, because it's impossible and do you know why it's impossible…?"

Motioning to Donna to keep back, as she'd crept forward despite his words, still not sure what kind of threat Vila possessed, if any at all, but determined to get to the bottom of the mystery he presented, the Doctor scooted quickly round their unexpected visitor and walked up to the Tardis doors which he flung open with a flourish. "Because of this! Would you like to try again, as you can see, we're in space!"

Donna stared through the open door. "Er Doctor, I don't think…"

"The alleyway, just like I was trying to explain to you," Vila said, looking at the crates and odd bits of rubbish he'd seen moments ago. "I really should go, I won't tell anyone anything, I promise…"

The Doctor looked from Donna to Vila and then through the doors of the Tardis. They did indeed appear to show a narrow alleyway. "What? But that's impossible!" he stammered.

They were in space, drifting along just inside the time vortex, and had been for a few days, while they'd caught their breath after their adventures on Bendenium. The Doctor had spent his time tinkering on a few pet projects, while Donna had lazed away a few days reading and topping up on her sleep.

"It looks like an alley to me Doctor," Donna said agreeing with Vila.

"But it can't be."

Tired, Vila sat down on the steps leading up to the main platform. "It's an ally, of course it's an alley, what else could it be?" he said despondently thinking the Doctor was quite, quite mad.

"A projection?" Donna hazarded.

The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver at the doorway; it buzzed and whirred then fell silent. The Doctor looked at his instrument, and then cautiously reached out to touch his hand to the doorway. When in space a forcefield allowed the Tardis doors to open without loss of atmosphere. The field should have glowed blue to the touch.

There was nothing to impede the Doctors hand as it passed the threshold of the doorway and was 'outside'. Experimentally the Doctor wiggled his fingers about, then cautiously stuck his head outside, and drew in a lungful of air.

"Well?" Donna asked from her position, keeping an eye both on Vila and the Doctor. "Oh no… don't you dare…" she said suddenly as she saw the Doctor attempt to put a foot outside. "What happens if the doors close, we're really in space, and I'm left her with… with… with him?"

"I'm Vila you know," Vila said to no one in particular.

The Doctor put his foot outside the Tardis, nothing happened. Grinning he prepared to step forward.

Donna growled. "Do not do it," she warned.

"I'm holding on, see, holding on…" The Doctor made a show of holding onto the doorway as he stepped outside.

Nothing happened.

The Doctor looked round. "Well that was a bit… A bit anticlimactic actually."

Keeping an eye on the Doctor, feeling a little bit sorry for their guest, Donna moved to sit on the steps next to Vila. "I would ask how you are doing, but I can see you've hurt your arm," she tried sympathetically.

"I think it's broken," Vila said miserably. "I could really do with a drink. My head hurts as well as my arm."

"A drink, that's maybe something I can help with." Donna suggested. "What can I get you?"

"I don't suppose you have any Soma? It would help with my arm see?" Vila tried hopefully.

Donna shook her head. "I don't know what that is, I'm sorry. I could get you a tea maybe, or some water. Don't worry about the Doctor… whatever is wrong; he'll help… just talk to him."

Will Riker stared at the screen in frustration. Despite several rounds of shocks, the natives didn't seem that they were likely to give up any time soon. "Your plan doesn't seem to be working," he told Danya.

"Yes, they do seem to be unusually stubborn today don't they," the young woman responded also looking at the screen.

"Do you have any other bright ideas?"

"Yes, actually, I do." Danya smiled.

"Good, then I'd like to hear it."

"We wait," Danya said simply. "And have a proper meal, not just a piece of fruit. Whatever happens, they won't stay out after dark."

"Do I want to know why?"

"They're a superstitious lot; they think nasty things walk the earth at night."

"What kind of nasty things?"

Danya shrugged. "Do you know, I've never found out? Isn't that strange?"

"So for all you know, it could be true?"

"Oh come on. Surely someone like you can't believe in monsters under the bed?"

Riker chucked humourlessly. "Believe me, I've met plenty of monsters, and most had nothing to do with bed sheets."

"Oh do tell, I love a good story." Danya said opening several cupboards and pulling out a varied assortment of ingredients."

"Some other time maybe, not now. We really can't afford to stay here much longer."

"I can, I often spend several nights up here. Will your friends come looking for you?"

"They will," Will Riker, agreed attempting to activate his combadge once more, scowling when nothing appeared to happen, the communication device not even acknowledging an open channel.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. In a couple of hours the Sorrens will have got bored, we can leave and look for your friends. I see the cut on your head has stopped bleeding now, come and help me prepare a meal."

"Now, remember the Prime Directive remains in force on this planet. We do not show ourselves or allow ourselves to be seen by the indigenous people. This is a recon mission only. Our objectives are to locate Commander Riker. If an opportunity arises where we can extract him unseen, then we will do so. Otherwise we will report back to the ship in one hour and discuss his rescue further." Worf said firmly.

It had taken engineering nearly half an hour to finish a standard diagnostic on Transporter Room 3 – just to be on the safe side, as Geordi had said. In the meantime, Worf had chosen his security team carefully. They were all seasoned security team members, that were unlikely to be trigger happy, or misinterpret any difficult situations.

Data had come to see Worf off; handing the Chief of Security a tricorder he'd programmed with the exact coordinates of Riker's last recorded whereabouts.

"Do not take any chances," he told the Klingon. "The initial findings of the anomaly are intriguing but inherently unstable. Now would not be a good time to take unnecessary risks, Commander Riker's whereabouts, and safety notwithstanding."

"Understood."

Data turned to the transporter operator as Worf and his team climbed onto the transporter platform. "Ensign, keep a lock on the Away Team at all times. Be ready to beam them back at a moment's notice."

"Yes, sir."

"Then energise."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Roj Blake, by all the stars, I didn't think you were going to make it," Docholli said rising to his feet to greet the bigger man warmly.

"I almost didn't," Blake responded. "I'm glad to see you survived too."

"Like you it was touch and go more times than I care to think of. But sit down, Alyssa get something strong for this man, I'll have another too, while you're there."

The chosen rendezvous was a small tavern just outside Epheron's second largest city of Lenca. _The Angel Falls_ was a well-known smugglers haunt, if you knew how to get into the back room of the public house that is. Entrance was by an electronic token and 7-digit passcode.

Sitting down on a bar stool across the table from Docholli and another man Blake didn't automatically recognise, Blake tucked his token back into his shirt out of sight. It never paid to be too careful.

"You've heard of Deva of course?" Docholli said introducing the other man, He was clean cut and middle aged with an intense gaze that now rested thoughtfully on Blake.

"I've not had the pleasure until now," Blake said with a nod. "So what's the news?"

"You've not heard?"

Blake indicated his left arm, which was still bound in a sling. "I've been a little busy," he offered with a shrug.

"Haven't we all, in the battle?" Docholli queried.

Alyssa arrived with a tray of drinks and sat down on the vacant stool beside Blake.

"This is Alyssa, she is considered one of the Federations top communications experts, and one of our best undercover agents," Docholli said nodding in her direction.

Blake took a sip of his drink. "I mean no offence but…"

"We understand. I can vouch for them both, and have with my life, several times over. There is not a coded message sent that Alyssa can't decipher, and when it comes to the logistics of moving people, supplies and ships around, you can't ask better than Diva."

Blake nodded. "Then that's good enough for me."

"So, tell me about your arm, in the battle?"

Blake laughed shortly. "No, would you believe Travis shot me... twice… and still couldn't aim straight!"

Docholli, Deva, and Alyssa all laughed.

"And Travis?" Deva asked. "I always thought he was more than a little unhinged after his courts marshal."

"A little?" Blake queried, and took another sip of his drink, turning sober. "Travis is dead," he said with a finality that left no doubt in its wake.

"You?"

Blake indicated his arm. "No, that was Avon. Shot him in the chest, dead centre, causing Travis to nose dive into StarOne's reactor."

"That would do it all right." Docholli agreed.

"Speaking of which, have you heard anything of my crew or ship? I don't remember much, but I was put into a life pod, so the_ Liberator_ must have been badly damaged."

Deva shook his head.

Blake looked towards Alyssa. "Anything?"

"No, nothing, sorry; but I can tell you, that you're not alone in losing or misplacing your ship. There are many abandoned, displaced, or lost crews and ships out there. I'll keep an ear out, but I've not heard anything about _Liberator _specifically, but the losses on both sides have been tremendous."

"Did we win?"

"If by we, you mean mankind, then yes, there's not much doubt the aliens were virtually wiped out, there have been a few pockets of resistance of course, where they've gone to ground in a couple of smaller outlying colonies."

"They'll be routed soon enough; the price we paid was too high to give them a chance to regroup," Deva remarked dourly, "We lost a lot of good people, on both sides in the battle and by that I mean the Rebellion and Federation alike, and it's not over yet..."'

"What's left of the Federation fleet, which isn't much, is scattered halfway across the galaxy." Alyssa nodded.

"I'd say the Federation's in a lot of trouble." Docholli agreed.

"I'll drink to that," Blake said raising his glass in a toast. "That's why I'm here of course. As Avon would say "it's difficult to sustain a military dictatorship when you've lost most of the military"."

Everyone at the table laughed again.

Deva produced several pieces of paper and plastics from the satchel sitting on the table by his side. "Our group is scheduled to meet up with Avalon's in two days time. You'll come with us of course. As Alyssa has said, the Federation is on its knees. It's new President has gone missing, and…"

"A new President?" Blake queried. "Where has that come from? What happened to the last one?"

"What always happens when someone gets too ambitious?"

"Surely we can use that to our advantage?"

"Yes, that's what Avalon is counting on. Chaos reigns nearly everywhere."

"There's a lot of infighting too between various factions." Deva agreed.

"So the time to strike is now," Docholli said firmly.

"Agreed. But with the casualties from the battle, how many ships and personal will we have?"

Deva sorted through a couple of the plastics in front of him and slid one of them across to Blake who gave a low whistle. "Right then, we'd best get a move on hadn't we?

"Are you feeling any better now?" Donna asked Vila sitting down beside him, and handing him a mug of tea.

"A little," Vila agreed cautiously. "I really could do with a little something extra added to this though, if you know what I mean?" he said holding out the mug of tea he'd just been given.

Donna smiled, and reached out to put a careful arm around Vila, being cautious of his arm now in a sling. A scan ran in the medical section on the Tardis had shown a simple break of the thief's left ulnar. The Doctor had, not unsympathetically rotated it back into position, causing Vila to faint and while Vila he had been out of it, the Doctor had sprayed some instant foam over and around his arm, causing a rock hard cast in seconds.

Vila had come round pretty quickly and not wanting to be left alone, was sitting on the metal steps of the Tardis watching the Doctor tinker with something to the left and somewhat below him.

Donna smiled at Vila. "Yes I do know what you mean," she agreed. "And it's because I know, that I'm not going to do it."

"Eh?"

"The Doctor has given me a couple of tablets for you to take with a drink," Donna explained carefully, "Hold out your hand…."

Vila did so.

Donna tipped two purple pills the size of a garden pea onto his palm. "Take them with this," she instructed pointing to the tea once more.

"Muffph… mhay… mook... moo, mall… to do any good," Vila complained taking the pills then a sip of tea and swallowing.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that good things come in little packages?" Donna queried.

"Eh… no, at least I don't think so."

"Well, they do. The Doctor says they're rather powerful, so you should expect to feel rather sleepy soon. We can make you up a spare bed."

"I can stay then?" Vila said, not sure if he should be glad about that or not.

"For now," The Doctor said poking his head out from underneath one of the panels on the Tardis. "Just until we can determine just whatever caused this and allowed you to enter the Tardis when we were in the middle of the Time Vortex… and no longer. Donna, don't get too attached, he's not some kind of puppy!" The Time Lord finished before sliding back underneath the Tardis console once more.

"Don't worry, he's always like this," Donna confided.

"Oi! I can hear you perfectly well you know," the Doctor stated.

"Then you shouldn't have such big ears!" Donna retorted.

Already beginning to feel the effects of the medication he'd been given, Vila moved to peer down at the Doctor to see if his ears were really big.

"What are you doing?" Donna asked confused by Vila's attempts to turn his head upside-down.

"They look the normal size to me," he said to Donna in all seriousness. "They're not big or… or green or pointy or anything…"

It took Donna a few moments to place the comment, and then she laughed. "Spaceman, Vila's just checking to see if your ears are green and pointy like Spocks…"

The Doctors head appeared from below once more. "I do not look like Spock," he said firmly. "How many of those pills did you give him Donna?"

"Only two, just like you said."

The Doctor sighed. "I said one pill, and if he was still in pain two hours later, then give him the other, not both of them at once!"

"Well Vila said he was in a lot of pain," Donna explained.

"And now he's going to be as high as a kite for hours and hours."

Donna sighed. "Are they dangerous or anything?"

Vila started to sign happily to himself, a song about a green-eared alien with big ears who went flying without permission.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "No. Those pills have a half life of twelve hours, so it's going to get worse before it gets better."

Vila's voice rose in octave, out of tune and off key.

"Is there nothing you can do?" Donna said putting her hands over her own ears. "No timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly stuff?"

The Doctor sighed. "Nope! I can't go back in time and tell you not to give him the pills. We're stuck with him until the medication wears off. If you want to help, you could hand me the No 16 spanner over there. I haven't found anything in the automatic defence mechanism, the ADM that points to a malfunction. Something as serious as dropping out of the time vortex, landing on an unknown planet and letting in a complete stranger is… is more than impossible, and yet it happened. The Banshee circuits are working correctly, the safety precaution selector is also functioning normally, yet the Hostile Action Displacement System (HADS) did not kick in, nor did the Early warning system, our defensive shields, or the Tardis Telepathic Circuits.

"In other words, the moment we dropped out of the time vortex, the Cloister Bells should have wrong and the Temporal Grace Circuits should have worked to to 'paralyse' or 'freeze' any intruder whose bio-rhythms don't correspond to a pre-programmed list of 'friends.'

"He," the Doctor said pointing towards Vila "should be trapped in a spare dimensional stasis field, which can only be deactivated from the Control Console, by me. It's simply not possible to by pass every lock on this ship, open the doors, whilst she's travelling between dimensions and ask for help."

"But isn't helping what you do Doctor?" Donna asked carefully, trying to calm an obviously frustrated Doctor. "You help people."

"Yes, but… but…. Gah!" The Doctor said exasperated.

Vila paused in his rendition of the Ballard of Green Ear. "I'm good with locks," he said with a friendly grin. "I can open anything as I always tell Avon, not that he listens to me of course. Would you like to hear of the time I rescued us all from certain death at the System's hand with nothing more than a bobby pin I'd borrowed from Jenna?"

The Doctor and Donna shared a look.

Donna picked up the tea Vila had put down. "Try some more tea, Vila it'll make you feel better."

"But I feel better already."

"Then the tea will work really well won't it?"

"It might," Vila conceded, searching in his tunic pocket for something. He brought out a crumpled paper bag and offered it to Donna. "Go on, try one. I'm not sure what they are, but they're yummy," he explained.

Gingerly putting her hand in the bag Donna exchanged another look with the Doctor as she pulled out one his jelly babies.

"What?" The Doctor spluttered.

"Come," Picard, said in answer to the chiming of the doors to his Ready Room. He'd reached a natural break in the reports he'd been reading, so had just decided to fetch himself a drink from the replicator, and had just finished ordering his usual hot Earl Grey tea when Data stepped into the room, or at least tried to. The doors whooshed open, only to close again a second later, open once more, then try to close before seizing up completely, half open.

Giving the door a perplexed look, Data shuffled in sideways. "The glitches in the _Enterprises_ electrical systems appear to be getting worse," he offered.

Next to Picard, the replicator in the wall offered a coughing splutter and spat out a dark blue sludge into the bottom of the Captain's usual clear glass cup.

"I wonder what gave it away!" Picard said dryly, putting both the cup and its contents into the recycling bin. "Let's try that again shall we? Is Mr La Forge any closer to fixing these glitches?"

"I do not believe so Captain," Data said calmly. "Although I know he has several teams of engineers working on the problems as they arise. Just a moment ago the automatic watering system in hydroponic bay four decided that it was monsoon season and caused a fair amount of damage to the substrate the plants need in order to grow; additionally the over abundance of water in that area have caused several small leaks to appear in the storage facility below."

"I trust the clean up crews are already on site?"

"Yes sir."

"Could the anomaly be the cause of these faults? How soon before the preliminary report from sciences will be ready?"

"I estimate another 26 minutes, 43 seconds sir, but I do not believe the energy output from the phenomenon is the cause of our ship wide computer malfunctions. Whist it is true that we are still in the process of an external and internal system-wide sensor sweep and diagnostic scan, in order to locate the true cause, early indications suggest that the fault lies internally although from an external source."

Picard frowned. "An internal external source? You do realise Mr Data that you have just appeared to contradict yourself?"

"Yes sir. It is a puzzle that we are still working on."

"Very well, I expect a report in due course… Merde! What has this damn machine given me now?" Picard said looking at the milky brown liquid in a new glass cup.

Data took a step forward and sniffed the air carefully. "I do believe it is coffee sir. Black Ivory, with milk. Some purists say that coffee should be drunk unadulterated without milk and any added sweetener such as honey, sugar, or fructose. They also believe that for a truly exceptional cup, one should roast and grind your own beans for the ultimate in freshness and flavour. For rarity value there is an animal native to Earth called the Palm Civet or Civet Cat. These animals ingest the coffee beans themselves but most of the bean survives intact through the creature's digestive system. It is then collected and turned into coffee called Kopi Luwak. The Tellarites have a similar collection method with one their aquatic mammals the largely nocturnal…"

"Thank you Mr Data, that's quite enough on coffee," Picard said eyeing his beverage with disfavour. He decided to take a cautious sip. "Hmm, not tea obviously," he said with evident distaste.

"No sir. As your replicator is malfunctioning, you could always send down to Ten Forward for your tea."

"And have Guinan lecture me on drinking too much of the stuff? Thank you Data, I suppose this will have to do. It's better than the blue stuff at any rate."

"Yes sir," Data agreed. "Although are you aware that if you do imbed too much tea that the caffeine it contains can lead to both mild or to serious side effects. These include, but are not limited to headaches, nervousness, sleep dysfunctions', vomiting, diarrhoea, irritability, irregular heart…"

"Transporter Room Three to Captain Picard."

"Picard here," the Captain said tapping his combadge to open the channel and cutting across the start of Data's lecture on tea.

"Ensign Peterson sir, I don't quite know how to say this but we've just lost contact with Lt Commander Worf and his security detail."

Picard exchanged a look with Data. "What do you mean we've lost contact?" he asked.

"Ensign you were supposed to keep a transporter lock on the Away Tea at all times. Do you mean to say you've lost that too? Data added.

"Yes Commander and I can't seem to raise them at all Captain. I've tried and tried, and double, triple checked my settings and the controls. I have no explanation, but they were there one moment and gone the next…"

Picard drew a breath. "Stay right were you are Ensign, do not touch anything further, we'll be with you in a moment." The Captain said then tapped his combadge to close the channel. "Glitches aside, two transporter malfunctions depriving this ship of both her First Officer and Security Chief, in the presence of an as yet undetermined anomaly is too much of a coincidence for my taste.

"We need to get to the bottom of this quickly. Mr Data, you're with me," he instructed putting down his drink and exiting his Ready Room by squeezing sideways through the door as Data had done. "Mr Walker," he said addressing the junior Lieutenant operating Worf's customary station at tactical. "Kindly see if you can raise Commander Worf and/or his on the planet below please."

"Yes sir."

Picard forced himself to stand still, his eyes dawn to the purple/blue/white spinning haze that was the anomaly, just visible on the bottom left of the viewscreen, whilst the main view which half filled it, was of the planet below. Both seemed quiet and innocuous.

Data moved to confer briefly with the officer currently filling in for him at his ops station. The atmosphere on the bridge was tense but professional, while everyone waited to hear if Walker could raise Worf. Picard sent Troi a silent look, which she replied with a quick shake of her head. She couldn't sense anything unusual.

A full minute passed while the Lieutenant jg attempted to raise the _Enterprise's_ Chief of Security or anyone on the Away Team and failed.

"I can't seem to manage it sir," the junior officer finally admitted.

Picard nodded, keeping his worry hidden. "Thank you Mr Walker, as you were. Commander Lenko, you have the Comm, Mr Data, if you'd be so good as to come with me?" the captain said gesturing for Data to walk ahead of him to the turbolift at the back of the bridge. "I'll be back in a short while, but in the meantime can someone get my blasted door fixed, oh and see to the replicator too. I do not drink coffee!"

Picard waited until he and Data were in the turbolift before he said anything. "Deck 6," the Captain ordered curtly before turning to his Second Officer. "Thoughts Mr Data? I was hoping that the little test on the bridge should rule out the same electrical malfunction that's currently playing havoc in Transporter Room Three," he confided. "Or indeed, if that is the case."

Data tilted his head fractionally to one side processing the Captains words at lightning speed. "An interesting hypothesis sir," he concluded. "However if the glitch in the system has lead to a ship wide communication failure then we would not be any the wiser; both instances would produce identical results, just as we've now seen."

The Captain frowned "You're saying this goes further than just a couple of isolated incidents? You think this is all connected somehow? To what? The anomaly or something more we haven't seen as yet?"

"I do not know Sir, that is what the engineering and science departments are trying to ascertain," Data said softly. "An anomaly is, by its very definition, unknown."

Picard frowned. "You're quite right of course," he agreed and tapped his combadge. "Commander La Forge, how is the diagnostic on Transporter One progressing."

"La Forge here, slowly Captain. Commander Data was going to brief you on the additional system wide disturbances we've been experiencing."

"I am here with the Captain Geordi," Data confirmed. "I believe he's been well versed in some of the malfunctions, to whit the door to his Ready Room and the room's replicator system."

"When I can spare a team, I'll send them up, but there is not much more I am able to tell you Captain, other than the fact that we have yet to find any cause for either in these new glitches or the cause of the original transporter malfunction."

"Understood Mr La Forge, at your convenience perhaps you'd care to meet the Mr Data and myself in room 2054."

"Transporter Room Three?" La Forge queried.

"Yes Geordi, the malfunctions have spread further than we anticipated. We seem to have… misplaced more crew…"

Cally was nearly insensate by the time her escape pod finally came to rest, bouncing across the dry dessert sand, flipping upwards every now and then when it hit a small rock or bolder. The escape pods booster rocket had started to fail several hours ago, causing the escape pod to limp along at ½ the speed of light as well limiting the supply of oxygen in the capsule.

With a final couple of bounces, the life pod came to a juddering halt.

All was quiet except for the hiss of metal as it started to cool.

Minutes passed under the blazing hot sun of the planet. The hissing stopped to be replaced first by a soft drip; drip, dripping and then a softer swoosh. Moments later the first wispy tendrils of smoke appeared.

It was the smoke that dragged Cally closer towards consciousness. The Auron forced her eyes open and coughed in the tainted air. It felt unbearably hot in the escape pod, Cally shivered aware she was going into shock. Using the last of her strength, she struggled to push open the escape hatch, and half fell outside.

With Towson sent back the way he'd come to meet up with Portman and D'Son and advise them of the situation, Worf spent a few minutes fastening and then testing the restraints around Kleggs wrists. The Klingon making doubly sure the Section Leader was secured to an integral part of the ships structure, rather than a chair or desk, ensuring he wouldn't be able to free himself. Straightening he stumbled slightly as the deck appeared to move beneath him. "Did you feel that?" he asked Tarrant who was still tying up the second trooper.

"Indeed," Tarrant agreed, fastening the last handcuff in place. "I would imagine we have probably changed course or more likely increased speed again. The_ Liberator_ has been doing that off and on for several hours."

"Collecting more rebel scum no doubt," Klegg said spitting on the floor.

Both Worf and Tarrant ignored him. "The… _Liberator_ is presumably using fixed points as navigational aids," Worf suggested.

"Yes, that was my first thought as well," Tarrant agreed. "Are you a pilot?"

"No, I am Chief of Security aboard the _Enterprise_. However all Command Officers are required to have basic flight training and navigation skills. Compared to a true pilot I have rudimentary knowledge at best." A thought struck Worf. "Are you aware of our current location? For example the_ Enterprise _was on a course of 009 mark 672 holding a high orbit round planet RK2579. The planet had an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere able to support carbon life. RK2579 is classified as a Db3 planet, which means it that any inhabitants are unlikely to have developed space travel."

"An interesting and concise hypothesis," Tarrant said approvingly. "However I've not heard of RK2579, so can't comment on its classification."

"Thank you, but not entirely unexpected," Worf acknowledged as both he and Tarrant exited the room where they'd detained Klegg and two of his troopers. They watched the door slide shut behind them.

"I wish we could properly secure the room," Tarrant said staring at the unfamiliar keypad of the door release mechanism.

Worf aimed his phaser at the lock and fired a short burst at it, melting, and fusing the circuitry.

Tarrant grinned. "Simple, yet effective," he approved.

"I would have preferred to secure them in the Brig," Worf grumbled.

"Ah, I have yet to find that particular section as yet," Tarrant, admitted. "However to get back to your question, I have to admit I don't know precisely where we are either. I was caught up in fighting what I know as the intergalactic war, with the inhabitants of the Andromedian Galaxy, the closest tours. They seem to be a rather hostile and hellishly blood thirsty bunch. They don't tend to have any use for prisoners, rather adopt a shoot first, second and third before going in with their knives and laser pistol things type of people. I was several clicks away from Altern V, a Federation stronghold and a fall back position for us to regroup when my ship the _Talisman_ went down."

"They sound like men who know little of Honour," Wolf stated with disgust. "However I do not know of an Altern V, or have a frame of reference for your Andromedian Galaxy."

"Not entirely unexpected now, but a bit of a blow nonetheless. I foresee it could be somewhat tricky to find a common frame of reference, if you don't recognise either Altern V or Andromeda, and I don't recognise RH2579. Still it'll keep us on our toes that's for sure. In the mean time, we still have two of Kleggs men to find, and we need to establish where the _Liberator_ is heading, and if anything on its screen looks familiar to either of us."

"You are not able to access this ships navigation system?"

"No, not at all, ever since Klegg and his men, and then I boarded her, we're just been along for the ride. It appears to be acting on a predetermined set of instructions, presumably to locate this ships original crew and recover them."

Worf nodded. "That would be logical," he agreed. "However perhaps my tricorder might serve as an interface and give us access to some of the ships functions."

"A tricorder? I've never heard of one of those," Tarrant admitted curious. "What is it and what does it do?"

Worf unclipped the pouch containing his tricorder and showed it to Tarrant, though he didn't offer to let him touch it, and carefully returned it to its carrier. "It is a handheld device which combines sensors, atmospheric analysis, proximity checks, communications, and a universal translator. This is a model TR-580 mark 7. I am hoping it will be of some assistance to us now. Let us get to the bridge and establish a base of operations before we decide how to proceed."

"Yes of course, I was thinking the flight deck might be a good place to start, unless you'd rather stay in the teleport facility? If the ship is about to pick up any of its crew, I think that's where they'll appear, rather than docking with the ship now she's in flight mode."

Worf thought about it. "Yes I agree. I can get a couple of my men to cover the transporter area. You and I will head to the bridge," he said firmly.

"As you wish," Tarrant agreed.

Worf was silent for several minutes as they made their way through the oddly shaped hexagonal corridors lit on four sides and the ceiling by elongated light panels. "The centre of the Federation is Sol III or Terra in Sector 001 of the Alpha quadrant," he offered finally.

"Ah, for us Terran is one of the main languages of Earth," Tarrant, "and is in the 9th Sector, our mapping system radiates out from Earth, the founding planet of the Federation, we don't work on quadrants."

"I believe Earth is another name for Sol III." Worf agreed. "Though our intergalactic travel contains four sectors in the United Federation of Planets, then we have the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, The Tholian Assembly, the Naberrite Alliance and at least two or three dozen other minor systems or unallied planets."

Tarrant whistled. "Well, I hate to say it, but you're bigger than us, especially after the routing we've just had with the Andromedans. When we have the time, we'll have to sit down and have a proper show and tell, but right now I think we may have a few more pressing problems," he said having spotted the silhouette of one of Kleggs troopers apparently holding two of Worf's security guards.

Ducking back down the corridor, Tarrant pulled Worf with him, or at least he tried to, surprised by the body mass of his new friend. "We need to come up with a plan," he hastily whispered to Worf, finally getting the Klingon to move back out of sight with him. "Give me your gun, I'll walk you up to Marv at supposed gunpoint, and while he's distracted you can bop him one."

"Agreed," Worf, said with a nod, through narrowed eyes. It was a good plan, as long as Tarrant didn't play him false. However, Tarrant had already helped him take out two of the troopers and Klegg himself, and this other man had captured two of his men, which gave them a 4:2 ratio. Therefore, the odds were on Worf's side regardless of Tarrant's intentions.

"I found this one hanging around the teleport bay," Tarrant said strolling onto the flight deck with his gun planted visibly in Worf's side. "I see you've managed to capture another two of our guests as well. Well done Yarrow."

"Thank you sir, Phillips said he wanted to finish checking the ships storage facilities in cargo bay one, then he'll be right up."

"Excellent, you have done well," Tarrant said warmly, deliberately indicating with his gun that Worf should cross in front of Yarrow to join the rest of his security team.

Yarrow, still basking in Tarrant's praise and unconsciously relaxing due to Tarrant's own calm attitude, lowered his own weapon to let Worf pass between them, and didn't have time to react before Worf struck with lightning efficiency and dealt him a knock-out blow to his chin, felling him instantly.

Portman and D'Son were surprised, unable to comprehend what had just happened until Worf barked at D'Son to hand him his cuffs.

"I'm sorry sir, he just seemed to come at us out of nowhere," D'Son apologised handing over the restraints.

"I will hear your full report at a later date," Worf said firmly.

Tarrant stepped in. "To be fair, the troopers have been on this ship for three days already, they had to search it thoroughly from the start in order to claim it her prize money."

Worf gave Tarrant a look. "Officers are not supposed to be captured so easily. They will be dealt with a later time. For now however, we need to remove this individual from the bridge and prepare a plan to capture the remaining trooper before he discovers what has happened."

"Yarrow said Phillips is in cargo bay one, I will simply walk up to him and ask him if he's seen the others, he won't suspect a thing. I'll even take one of your men with me if you like?"

Jean-Luc Picard strode into Sickbay, irritated and worried in equal measure. He walked straight into Crushers office. "Doctor, it is now imperative that I speak with your patient," he said firmly.

"I'm sorry Captain, he did regain consciousness, albeit briefly, but the trauma he sustained was too much for him and he lost it very soon afterwards."

"Did you get a chance to ask him anything?"

"Only his name."

"And?"

Beverley shook her head.

"Then you need to wake him again Doctor."

"He needs to rest."

"And I need to speak with him. We have lost four more of this ship's crew. We are in uncharted space, with some kind of anomaly breathing down our necks and odd malfunctions popping up in various areas. If he has any idea how any of this has happened…"

"You surely can't hold him responsible for the disappearance of the crew?

"No, I am not suggesting that, however the fact remains that Commander Riker, Will, went down to rescue him, and Worf and his men vanished while he was here in sickbay." Picard said firmly. "Ergo I need to speak with him."

Beverly Crusher looked at Picard. She understood and shared his concern for their missing crewmembers; however, her adherence to the Hippocratic Oath remained strong. Reluctantly she stood. "Very well, two minutes Captain, no more, it won't do to overtire him."

Avon was situated in ITU, and had the suite to himself.

Raising the level of the light by 20%, Dr Crusher crossed the room to stare thoughtfully at the biofunction screen above Avon for several moments before picking up a hypospray and giving him a small shot of stimulant.

It worked almost immediately.

Avon drew a breath, doing his best not to wince at the immediate stabbing pain his chest. Groaning slightly as he came round he realised quickly that he had one hell of a headache; in fact, he ached all over, feeling as if he'd gone several rounds with Travis and almost didn't win.

Another breath, which he wished he hadn't taken.

"Hello, I'm hoping you're back with us again. I'm not sure how much you remember. We found you in your life pod on the planet below." Beverly Crusher said carefully, watching Avon's vital signs closely.

Drawing a shallower breath, one that didn't hurt so much, Avon opened his eyes. Despite the continued headache, his vision was clear this time, enabling him to see the unfamiliar tiled ceiling of the _Enterprise's _surgical unit.

"Hello again," Crusher tried as Avon's dark eyes fixed unblinkingly upon her. His expression was completely blank, giving nothing away as he struggled to make sense his surroundings.

"My name is Beverly Crusher. You were injured. We brought you back to our ship to treat your injuries. You're safe now," Beverly continued. "You had a few fairly serious injuries and at least a couple of bumps on your head; you may have concussion, so don't be alarmed if you can't remember. But do you know what caused you to abandon your ship?"

Avon said nothing, taking shallow breaths, as he attempted to piece together what had happened.

Crusher frowned, noticing Avon's obvious breathing difficulties. "I can give you something that will help with that," she suggested, dialling a strong analgesic into the hypospray and injecting Avon with it.

Avon had held perfectly still, and continued to look at the doctor as his pain eased.

Crusher turned to Picard. "I really don't think he's going to be able to help us at the moment," she said firmly. "I've just had to give him 5cc's Terakine and Hydrocortilene to ease his pain."

"Noted doctor," Picard said with a nod stepping round Beverly to take her place besides Avon's bedside. "I don't intend to keep you for long, I'm aware that you've been in a shuttle accident," Picard told Avon carefully. The Captain had moderated his tone somewhat to take account of the fact that Avon was obviously unwell.

Avon looked at Picard. His mind felt distinctly woolly, and as the redhead had suggested there were gaps in his memory. He had no recollection of leaving the _Liberator_, crash-landing on any planet, or any rescue afterwards. The clothing the man and woman were wearing were unfamiliar to him, as was what little design of the ship he could see.

Frustrated Picard looked at Crusher, who returned his gaze with an 'I told you so' one of her own. Nevertheless, the Captain tried again. "My name is Jean-Luc Picard, I'm the Captain of the _USS Enterprise_, we're a Federation star ship, and we consider you our guest aboard this ship. Now, is there anything you can tell us? Anything you can remember about how you came to be in your life pod? What happened to your ship? Did it have something to do with the anomaly?"

Avon wasn't really thinking clearly, but he heard the word "Federation" with startling clarity. The bald headed man talking to him wasn't wearing the standard Federation uniform and the ships design was unfamiliar to him; which lead him to come to the logical conclusion that he was aboard an experimental vessel. Was this how they'd defeated the aliens?

Avon stopped appalled as a new thought took hold. If he were aboard a Federation ship, he would be in enough trouble. He knew all too well how the Federation treated their guests. Now he was awake, it wouldn't be long before he was thrown into a cell.

However what if they hadn't defeated the aliens? Or at least some of them had survived? Despite the pounding in his head, and gaps in his memory, Avon remembered how the aliens he'd seen on Star One had appeared human until he'd shot a couple of them. Had they lost the battle then and he was aboard an Alien ship? Was this some kind of elaborate trap?

"We don't have much by way of a first aid kit, just the usual disinfectant, dressings, bandages, wipes, clips, scissors, lint and some quick set foam, left over from when Iesha broke her arm once, some energy tablets and some plasters, I think." Dayna said, still sounding a bit miffed as she escorted Riker down the spiral steps to her underground home, helping him carry the strange woman they'd found with great reluctance.

There had been no one on the beach when they'd finally made it down to the shoreline, whereupon Will had been more than a little surprised when Dayna stopped after they'd only walked a dozen or so metres before dropping to the sand, and starting to dig. He was even more surprised to see the glint of a polished metal surface reflect back in the dying suns rays after a couple of moments.

"Your family really like trap doors don't you," he'd said watching Dayna in amazement. "I know you said you lived in the sea, but I thought you meant you had an entrance way near a tidal cave or something."

"Oh we do, there's another entrance to our home about 600 metres off in that direction, but this is closer and I didn't want to take the chance of being seen. I told you, you wouldn't get your feet wet remember?" Dayna had said using a magnetic passkey to unlock the airlock. Now she looked at Riker with wary reluctance as they reached the bottom of the staircase.

The staircase opened up the last few feet to give a view of the open planned interior of the big main room. The walls, ceiling and floor were all some kind of silvered metal, and while their were several cream coloured couches and other homely touches about the place, the cylindrical support struts and venting systems; interface panels and hatches for service ducts gave away the nature of Dayna's home immediately.

"We're inside a space ship," Riker said looking round him in amazement.

"A fixed orbit station, but to be fair you were close," Dayna said, thawing slightly. "My father flew her here and then beached her just over twenty years ago."

"Some feet of engineering, to get her down intact. How did he do it I wonder? The heat of re-entry alone would have put an enormous strain on her outer hull."

"You can ask him about that in a minute when you meet him. In the meantime we need to decide what to do about her."

"She needs medical attention."

"Well yes, as I've said before we only have very limited supplies, so we don't have much. There's a spare bed in my room, I suppose we aught to put her there, this way."

Once more carrying Servalan by himself, Riker obediently followed Dayna down a corridor off to his right from the staircase. "What do you do if you get sick?"

"Me, I never get sick. I don't believe in it, and I've always been in the best of health. As I said before Iesha broke her arm once, and we had to send for some first aid bits with our regular supply run."

"I thought you said you and your family lived alone?"

"We do, but we're not primitives. We design and build security systems and have a small but loyal client bass. Once every month we have supplies we could not attain otherwise brought here."

"So you have a way off this planet?"

"Yes and no. This is my room, you can put her down here, she can have this bed," Dayna directed Riker. "We don't have a ship ourselves, but our supplies are brought in by a Mark 58 planet hopper. The next one is scheduled in 29 days, as it last came 2 days ago."

"Well, I can't wait that long in any case. I really need to contact my ship as soon as possible. If you're able to arrange for the shipment of supplies you must have a communication system."

"We do. I'll ask my father to take you there. But first, we need to deal with her. See if you can wake her while I fetch my father and let him know we have guests."

Riker watched Dayna leave the room, taking with her several unanswered questions, before he forced himself to push them aside for the time being and concentrate on the problem at hand.

The unconscious woman felt cold to the touch, her skin quite clammy. Being very circumspect about her body, Riker quickly removed the damp sandy, formally white evening dress she'd been wearing and slipped her between the sheets of the bed, just leaving her injured leg above the covers.

Unsure of what he would find, Riker padded the ruined dress up under the leg to act as a towel and protection for the bed, before he untied the cloth about Servalan's leg. He had been right to do so, as the wound was deep, a piece of metal deeply imbedded in the thigh just above the knee. It immediately began bleeding profusely once the pressure of the bandage was removed.

Dayna hadn't yet supplied Riker with the first aid kit that she'd spoken of, so there was little Riker could do for the moment other than retie the cloth Servalan had used as a temporary bandage anyway. He felt her wince as he did so.

"Sorry, I was just taking a look to see how bad it is," he explained, eventually looking up.

Deep green eyes regarded him narrowly. "And?"

"There's a foreign object which appears to be imbedded in your thigh which needs to be removed."

"Yes, I thought as much myself. Are you a doctor?"

"No, a Starfleet Officer, but I've had medical training." Riker said carefully, greatly surprised that the unknown woman seemed completely composed and quite lucid. She had to be in a lot of pain, yet it didn't show from her demeanour.

"How fortunate for me."

Riker offered his patient a smile. "Someone has gone to fetch a medical kit," Riker continued.

"Again I am most grateful." Servalan said carefully. She was in a fair amount of discomfort, but quite determined not to let it show, or demonstrate any kind of weakness until she had worked out exactly where she was. She didn't recognise Rikers uniform and had certainly never heard of Starfleet. "So, who do I thank for my timely rescue? You must have a name?" she said offering Riker a smile of her own.

Riker grinned in response. "It's Will," he offered. "Do you have a name as well?"

Servalan drew a breath. "You can call me Sleer," she suggested.


End file.
